WOMAN  IN  THE  MAKING  OF  AMERICA 


OTHER  BOOKS  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 


HISTORICAL 

The  Romance  of  American  Expansion 
Daniel  Boone  and  the  Wilderness  Road 


PSYCHOLOGICAL 

The  Riddle  of  Personality 

Historic  Ghosts  and  Ghost  Hunters 

Scientific  Mental  Healing 


MARTHA    WASHINGTON. 

From  the  painting  by  Woolaston. 

FRONTISPIECE. 


Woman  in  the  Making 
of  America 


BY 

H.    ADDINGTON   BRUCE 


Illustrated 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,   BROWN,  AND   COMPANY 

1912 


Copyright, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published,  October,  1912 


THE  COLONIAL  PRESS 
C.  H.  SIMONDS  <fc  CO.,  BOSTON,  U.  S.  A, 


TO    THE    MEMORY 
OF 

MRS.    KATHERINE   F.    BOWES 

OF    BOSTON 

ONE    OF    THE    NOBLE    ARMY    OF    AMERICAN    WOMEN 

WHOSE     LIVES,     UNKNOWN     TO     HISTORY,     HAVE     BEEN 

A  FORCEFUL  INFLUENCE  IN  THE  STRENGTHENING 

OF    THE    NATION,    I    DEDICATE    THIS    BOOK 

IN   GRATEFUL    REMEMBRANCE 


250607 


PREFACE 

THE  present  volume  is  an  outgrowth  of 
studies  I  have  for  some  years  been  making 
for  a  general  history  of  the  political,  economic, 
social,  and  territorial  expansion  of  the  United 
States.  The  more  I  became  acquainted  with 
the  facts  of  the  national  evolution,  the  more 
I  was  impressed  by  the  part  woman  has 
had  therein.  In  the  determination  of  grave 
constitutional  and  moral  issues,  such  as  those 
which  led  to  the  War  for  Independence  and 
the  Civil  War;  in  the  great  migratory  move 
ment  by  which  the  people  of  the  seaboard 
colonies  and  their  descendants  conquered  the 
Alleghany  mountain  barrier,  pressed  forward 
into  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  thence  in 
time  advanced  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
beyond  the  Rockies  to  the  shore  of  the  Pacific 
[vii] 


PREFACE 

Ocean;  in  the  growth  of  commerce  and  in 
dustry,  of  culture,  of  education  —  in  all  these, 
and  in  every  other  phase  of  the  nation's  history, 
I  found  women  playing  an  active  part,  and 
exercising  a  tremendous  influence.  I  also 
found  that  nowhere  was  there  available  a 
continuous  record  of  what  woman  has  contrib 
uted  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  Republic,  from 
the  earliest  to  the  latest  times;  and  I  deter 
mined,  if  the  opportunity  offered,  to  do  some 
thing  in  the  way  of  supplying  such  a  record, 
both  as  a  matter  of  simple  historical  justice 
and  because  of  the  unquestionable  historical 
importance  of  the  subject. 

I  do  not  pretend  that  in  this  book  I  have  told 
in  full  the  story  of  woman's  work  in  America. 
To  do  that  would  have  required  many  volumes, 
and  would  have  necessitated  far-extending 
researches  for  which  I  could  never  have  hoped 
to  find  the  time.  My  aim  has  been  simply 
to  indicate  the  various  directions  in  which 
woman's  activities  have  been  most  beneficial; 
[  viii  ] 


PREFACE 

to  help  in  making  the  present  generation  better 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  great  American 
women  of  other  times;  and  to  provide,  as  it 
were,  a  starting-point  from  which  some  future 
historian  may  proceed  to  present  a  far  more 
detailed  record  than  I  have  found  possible. 
Even  as  it  is,  the  preparation  of  this  little 
volume  has  been  no  light  task,  so  manifold 
are  the  sources  to  which  I  have  been  obliged 
to  resort  —  State  papers,  family  records,  mem 
oirs,  biographies,  books  of  travel,  special  his 
tories,  publications  of  learned  societies,  etc. 
That  I  have  been  able  to  carry  my  labors 
to  completion  is  largely  owing  to  the  courtesy 
of  the  authorities  of  Harvard  University  Li 
brary,  who  have  given  me,  since  I  began  my 
explorations  in  the  field  of  American  history, 
the  readiest  access  to  their  rich  storehouse  of 
historical  material. 

For  much  helpful  information  I  also  owe  a 
debt  of  gratitude   to  officers  of  the   General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  the  American 
[ix] 


PREFACE 

Civic  Association,  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  other  organ 
izations.  But  most  of  all  I  am  indebted  to  my 
wife,  herself  an  embodiment  of  the  best  in 
American  womanhood,  for  many  invaluable 
suggestions,  and  still  more  for  the  stimulus  of 
a  companionship  that  has  been  a  constant 
inspiration  to  literary  endeavor. 

H.  ADDINGTON  BRUCE. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.,  May,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE vii 

I.     IN  THE  TIME  OF  THE  FOUNDING  .       .  1 
II.    LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES  AND  HOUSE 
WIVES      44 

III.  THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION       .  81 

IV.  HEROINES  OF  THE  WESTWARD  MOVE 

MENT        115 

V.    THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY      .       .  156 

VI.    WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR    .  188 

VII.    THE  WOMEN  OF  To  -  DAY      ...  224 

INDEX  253 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

MARTHA  WASHINGTON        .       .       .      Frontispiece 

From  the  painting  by  Woolaston  . 

PAGE 

MONUMENT  TO  HANNAH  DUSTON,  HAVERHILL, 
MASSACHUSETTS 15 

THE  HANNAH  ROBINSON  HOUSE,  SAUNDERS- 
TOWN,  RHODE  ISLAND 59 

OLD    INDIAN    FORT    NEAR    NEWMANSTOWN, 
PENNSYLVANIA 72 

DEBORAH  SAMPSON 92 

From  an  old  engraving. 

FORT  HENRY 127 

From  an  old  wood  engraving. 

"  MOTHER  "  BICKERDYKE  .  .     207 

From  an  engraving. 

JULIA  WARD  HOWE  IN  1865     .  .214 

From  a  photograph. 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING 
OF  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  I 

IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

T~TTHEN  Alexis  de  Tocqueville  made  his 
i  ¥  celebrated  tour  of  the  United  States, 
one  of  the  things  which  most  deeply  impressed 
him  was  the  respect  paid  to  the  women  of  the 
country.  "  In  the  United  States,"  he  after 
wards  wrote,  "  men  seldom  compliment  women, 
but  they  daily  show  how  much  they  esteem 
them.  They  constantly  display  an  entire 
confidence  in  the  understanding  of  a  wife,  and 
a  profound  respect  for  her  freedom." 

Other  foreign '  visitors  have  since  made  the 
same  discovery,  and  have  usually  commented 
on  it  with  an  air  of  surprise.  But  to  anybody 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

acquainted  with  what  may  be  called  the  inner 
history  of  the  United  States  —  with  the  forces 
that  have  contributed  to  its  steady  growth  and 
progress  —  there  is  nothing  surprising  in  the 
attitude  of  American  men  toward  American 
women.  It  is  largely  the  expression  of  an  in 
herited  and  instinctive  appreciation  of  the 
notable  part  woman  has  played  in  shaping 
the  destinies  of  America.  De  Tocqueville 
himself  had  at  least  a  glimmering  of  this 
truth.  "If  I  were  asked,"  he  declared  em 
phatically,  "  to  what  the  singular  prosperity 
and  growing  strength  of  the  American  people 
ought  mainly  to  be  attributed,  I  should  reply 
-  to  the  superiority  of  their  women." 
Unfortunately,  historians  have  not  seen  fit 
to  bring  into  clear  relief  the  wonderful  person 
alities  and  glowing  achievements  of  the  women 
whose  lives  have  counted  for  so  much  in  the 
making  of  the  United  States.  They  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  say  about  the  forefathers  of 
America,  but  comparatively  little  about  the 
[2] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

foremothers.  So  that  while  the  Americans  of 
to-day,  like  the  Americans  of  de  Tocqueville's 
time,  instinctively  respect  and  appreciate  the 
American  woman,  they  have  no  very  definite 
knowledge  of  what  she  has  meant  to  the  national 
development. 

Not  everybody  realizes,  for  instance,  that 
the  foundation  stone  of  the  great  republic  - 
the  English  colonization  of  America  —  was 
successfully  laid  only  by  the  help  of  a  little 
company  of  women.  Yet  this  is  one  of  the 
best-authenticated  facts  in  the  history  of 
America's  infancy. 

As  is  well  known,  the  earliest  permanent 
English  settlement  was  established  at  James 
town  in  1607.  Unlike  the  Pilgrims  and  the 
Puritans,  who  followed  them  a  few  years  later, 
the  first  colonists  did  not  come  to  the  Amer 
ican  wilds  because  of  religious  persecution  at 
home.  They  were  sent  out  by  a  commercial 
corporation,  the  Virginia  Company,  which 
expected  to  reap  rich  profits  by  developing 
[3] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING   OF  AMERICA 

the  resources  of  the  New  World.  In  fact,  the 
great  motive  for  the  enterprise  was  the  hope 
of  finding  gold  and  silver  mines. 

This  failing,  the  settlers  turned  to  the  cul 
tivation  of  tobacco,  and  were  soon  exporting 
it  in  great  quantities  to  England,  where  it 
found  a  ready  market  at  high  prices.  But 
though  rapidly  making  money  for  themselves 
as  well  as  for  the  Virginia  Company,  they  were 
far  from  satisfied.  They  suffered  greatly  from 
the  climate,  and  still  more  from  the  mismanage 
ment  of  the  authorities  placed  over  them.  They 
got  on  none  too  well  with  their  Indian  neigh 
bors.  Most  of  all,  they  missed  the  joys  of 
domestic  life,  the  welcoming  smiles  and  warm 
greetings  of  wives  and  children  after  the  day's 
work  was  done. 

Not  a  woman  had  accompanied  them  from 
the  old  country.  In  the  following  year  two 
arrived,  a  Mistress  Forrest  and  her  maid, 
Anne  Burras.  Eager  suitors  quickly  laid  siege 
to  the  latter,  whose  marriage  to  John  Laydon 
14] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

is  memorable  as  the  first  English  wedding  in 
the  New  World.  Otherwise,  for  more  than  ten 
years,  the  colonists  were  virtually  dependent 
,on  Indian  squaws  for  feminine  society. 

In  vain  they  begged  the  Virginia  Company 
to  promote  the  emigration  of  women  who  should 
make  them  wives.  No  attention  was  paid 
to  their  petitions  and  complaints,  and  they 
constantly  grew  more  restless,  discontented, 
and  unhappy.  All  the  while,  too,  misgovern- 
ment  increased,  until  at  last  they  were  ready 
to  rise  in  open  rebellion. 

Just  at  this  time,  a  group  of  patriotic  and 
far-sighted  Englishmen  obtained  control  of 
the  Virginia  Company.  At  their  head  was  the 
liberty-loving  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  who,  if  any 
one  man  is  deserving  of  the  honor,  may  fairly 
be  called  the  founder  of  the  United  States. 
Sandys  saw  clearly  that  the  colony  could  not 
thrive  without  self-government,  and  he  drew 
up  a  plan  which  resulted  in  the  creation  of  the 
Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  the  first  really 
[5] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

representative  American  legislative  body.  He 
also  saw  that  self-government  was  not  enough, 
that  in  order  to  build  up  a  sound  social  organ 
ization  the  colonists  must  have  the  helpmates 
they  so  insistently  demanded. 

"  We  must  find  them  wives,"  he  bluntly 
told  his  associates,  "  in  order  that  they  may 
feel  at  home  in  Virginia." 

A  scheme  that  makes  curious  reading  to-day 
was  soon  devised.  The  Virginia  Company 
undertook  to  advance  the  passage-money  of 
the  prospective  brides,  but  every  successful 
suitor  among  the  colonists  was  to  pay  to  the 
company  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of 
"  best  leaf  tobacco,"  and  no  one  was  eligible 
to  become  a  suitor  unless  he  could  prove  that 
he  had  the  means  to  support  a  wife. 

Under  these  conditions  ninety  "  young,  hand 
some,  honestly  educated  maids,  of  honest  life 
and  carriage,"  were  induced  to  take  ship  for 

1  "The  Records  of  the  Virginia  Company  of  London," 
vol.  i,  p.  269. 

[6] 


IN    THE   TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

Virginia.  They  did  not  know,  as  we  now  know, 
that  by  thus  adventuring  with  fate  they  were 
helping  to  lay  the  foundations  of  one  of  the 
greatest  nations  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
They  were  merely  poor  but  worthy  girls, 
prayerfully  hopeful  that  they  would  find  good 
husbands  among  the  strangers  over  the 
water. 

And  in  this  they  were  not  disappointed. 
The  early  Virginians  shared  to  the  full  the 
feeling  so  well  expressed  by  good  old  Gov 
ernor  Spottswood  a  century  later:  '  Whoever 
brings  a  poor  gentlewoman  into  so  soli 
tary  a  place  from  all  her  friends  and  ac 
quaintances,  would  be  ungrateful  not  to  use 
her  with  all  possible  tenderness."  Such  was 
the  welcome  given  the  "  leaf  tobacco  "  brides, 
and  so  fondly  were  they  cherished  by  the 
men  whom  they  married,  that  they  soon  wrote 
home  enthusiastically  advising  others  to  follow 
their  example.  More  brides  came,  and  still 
more,  and  after  them  whole  families.  There 
[7] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING   OF  AMERICA 

was  no  longer  any  danger  that  Virginia  would 
be  a  failure.  Saved  from  the  state  of  "  soli 
tary  uncouthness,"  as  one  planter  termed  it,  the 
settlers  turned  with  contentment  to  their 
daily  tasks  and  to  their  self-imposed  mission 
of  winning  the  wilderness  for  civilization. 

As  in  Virginia,  so  in  every  colony.  Whether 
they  came  with  the  first  or  with  later  arrivals, 
women  exercised  a  refining,  ennobling,  and  in 
spiring  influence,  bringing  out  the  best  that 
was  in  their  husbands  and  sons,  and  sharing 
without  a  murmur  the  hardships  inevitable 
in  the  opening  up  of  a  new  country.  When 
they  left  their  native  land,  they  had  no  illusions 
about  the  life  that  lay  before  them.  They 
knew  it  would  be  rough,  harsh,  and  dangerous, 
and  that  it  would  mean  unending  hazard  and 
labor.  But  they  faced  it  courageously  for 
the  sake  of  those  they  loved. 

The  picture  of  the  Pilgrim  mothers,  falling 
upon  their  knees  on  the  deck  of  the  Mayflower  to 
thank  God  for  a  safe  journey,  and  then  going 
f8] 


IN   THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

ashore  to  wash  clothes,1  is  eloquently  descrip 
tive  of  the  spirit  shown  by  all  the  women  of 
early  America.  They  had  come  not  for  a  life 
of  ease,  but  to  play  their  part  earnestly  in 
the  home-making  for  the  men. 

There  was  no  task,  however  difficult  or  un 
pleasant,  from  which  they  shrank.  When 
occasion  demanded  they  willingly  went  into 
the  fields  to  break  the  ground,  sow  seed,  or 
aid  in  harvesting  the  ripened  grain.  They  lent 
a  hand  in  the  actual  building  of  the  rude  log 
cabins  that  sheltered  them;  and,  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  in  burrowing  out  the  caves  in  which  the 
Quaker  pioneers  took  refuge  along  the  banks 
of  the  Delaware  River.  As  Deborah  Morris 
tells  us,  in  her  narrative  of  the  experiences 
of  her  aunt,  Elizabeth  Hard: 

"  All  that  came  wanted  a  dwelling  and 
hastened  to  provide  one.  As  they  lovingly 
helped  each  other,  the  women  even  set  them 
selves  to  work  that  they  had  not  been  used  to 

1 "  Mourt's  Relation,"  p.  12  (H.  M.  Dexter's  edition). 
[9] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

before;  for  few  of  the  first  settlers  were  of 
the  laborous  class,  and  help  of  that  source  was 
scarce.  My  good  aunt  thought  it  expedient 
to  help  her  husband  at  the  end  of  the  saw,  and 
to  fetch  all  such  water  to  make  such  kind  of 
mortar  as  they  then  had  to  build  their  chimney." 

This  was  a  typical  experience  of  the  first 
mothers  of  America,  as  was  Mrs.  Hard's  un 
pleasant  discovery,  when  she  left  the  saw  and 
made  ready  to  cook  dinner,  that  the  larder  was 
empty.  For  a  moment  she  felt  downhearted, 
but  only  for  a  moment. 

"  Didst  thou  not  come  for  liberty  of  con 
science?  "  she  asked  herself.  "  Hast  thou 
not  got  it,  also  been  provided  for  beyond 
thy  expectation?  " 

Kneeling  in  the  tattered  tent  which  was  then 
her  home,  she  humbly  begged  the  divine  for 
giveness  and  aid.  As  she  rose  from  her  prayer, 
in  walked  the  family  cat,  bearing  in  its  mouth 
a  fine  large  rabbit.1 

1  A.  H.  Wharton's  "  Colonial  Days  and  Dames,"  p.  68. 
[101 


IN    THE    TIME    OF   THE    FOUNDING 

Even  in  these  first  and  most  painful  years 
there  were  compensations  for  the  sacrifices 
women  were  called  on  to  make,  and  the  hard 
ships  they  so  patiently  endured.  They  were 
sure  of  the  devotion  of  their  husbands  —  the 
colonial  records  are  surprisingly  free  from  refer 
ences  to  matrimonial  discord  —  and  they  were 
surrounded  by  healthy,  happy,  and  loving 
children.  They  had  the  joys  that  come  of 
living  in  a  home  of  one's  own,  however  humble. 
And,  in  the  case  of  those  who  had  emigrated 
for  conscience'  sake,  they  had  the  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  they  dwelt  in  communities 
closely  knit  together  by  identity  of  religious 
belief. 

Thus  it  was  that,  no  matter  how  hard  the  lines 
in  which  their  lives  were  cast,  the  American  pio 
neer  women  were  able  to  make  the  American 
pioneer  home  a  center  from  which  cheerfulness 
and  sunshine  unfailingly  radiated.  This,  it  need 
scarcely  be  said,  meant  much  to  the  men,  and 
so  did  the  rugged,  virile  qualities  which  their 
[11] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

wives  and  sisters  and  daughters  displayed  in 
times  of  great  emergency. 

The  severest  demands  were  made,  of  course, 
on  those  colonists  who  pressed  forward  from 
the  settlements  by  the  sea  into  the  lonely 
depths  of  the  inland  forests.  Here  they  were 
menaced  not  only  by  wild  beasts  but  by  the 
enmity  of  the  native  inhabitants,  who,  friendly 
enough  at  first,  soon  began  to  resent  any  further 
invasion  of  their  ancestral  lands.  In  face  of  this 
double  danger,  the  women  showed  themselves 
no  less  resolute  and  courageous  than  the  men. 

They  learned  the  art  of  molding  bullets  and 
loading  muskets,  and  how  to  use  all  manner 
of  weapons  of  defense.  Many  of  them  became 
expert  shots.  And  when  the  Indians  at  last 
took  the  war-path  in  earnest,  and  raged  along 
the  border  with  torch  and  scalping-knife,  they 
met  a  brave  resistance  from  countless  heroines. 
Nor  did  defeat,  the  slaughter  of  their  loved  ones, 
and  their  own  captivity,  break  the  spirit  of 
the  dauntless  frontiers  women. 
[12] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  illustration  of 
the  truth  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  story  of 
Hannah  Duston.1 

When  King  William's  War  was  at  its  height, 
a  band  of  Canadian  Indians  swooped  down  on 
the  Massachusetts  settlement  of  Haver  hill, 
killed  nearly  thirty  of  the  inhabitants,  and  made 
prisoners  of  thirteen  women  and  children. 
Among  the  captives  were  Mrs.  Duston  and 
her  new-born  babe,  whose  wailing  a  heartless 
warrior  soon  stilled  forever  by  snatching  the 
helpless  infant  from  its  mother's  arms  and  beat 
ing  it  to  death  against  a  tree.  Others  of  the 
prisoners,  who  could  not  keep  up  with  the  ter 
rific  pace  set  by  the  raiders  as  they  retreated 
toward  Canada,  were  ruthlessly  tomahawked. 
And  when,  at  nightfall,  the  survivors  sank 
wearily  to  the  ground,  and  gaspingly  prayed 
that  God  would  preserve  them,  they  were 
mocked  with  derisive  laughter. 

1  S.  G.  Drake's  "  Indian  Wars,"  pp.  315-317  (Edition  of 

1837). 

[131 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

'*  What  need  you  trouble  yourselves?  "  jeered 
the  Indians.  "  If  your  God  will  have  you  de 
livered,  it  shall  be  so." 

Finally,  after  several  days  of  the  hardest 
travel,  the  war-party  broke  up  into  several  small 
detachments,  among  which  the  prisoners  were 
distributed.  Mrs.  Duston,a  friend  of  hers  named 
Mary  Neff,  and  a  young  boy  fell  to  the  lot  of 
a  chief  who  tauntingly  informed  the  unhappy 
women  that  he  intended  making  them  "  run 
the  gauntlet  "  in  an  Indian  village  just  across 
the  border.  In  their  enfeebled  condition,  this 
was  the  same  as  sentencing  them  to  death, 
and  at  once  Mrs.  Duston  came  to  a  desperate 
resolution. 

"  Look  you,"  she  told  Mrs.  Neff,  "  we  are 
dead  women  unless  we  now  escape.  And  we 
can  escape  only  over  the  bodies  of  our  masters. 
We  must  kill  them  to-night,  or  perish  our 
selves." 

Taking  the  boy,   Samuel  Leonardson,   into 
her     confidence,     she     asked     him     to     find 
[14] 


MONUMENT    TO    HANNAH    DUSTON,    HAVERHILL,    MASSACHUSETTS. 

Page  15. 


IN    THE    TIME   OF    THE    FOUNDING 

out  just  how  to  kill  by  a  single  blow.  Brave 
and  quickwitted,  young  Samuel  readily 
gained  this  knowledge  from  an  unsuspecting 
Indian. 

"  He  told  me  to  '  strike  here,'  "  he  whispered 
to  Mrs.  Duston,  at  the  same  time  laying  a 
finger  on  his  temple.  Grimly  she  nodded,  and 
counted  the  minutes  till  sunset. 

That  night  while  the  Indians  —  ten  or  twelve 
in  all,  including  some  squaws  —  were  slumber 
ing  soundly  about  their  camp-fire  on  the  bank 
of  the  Merrimac,  the  two  women  and  the  boy 
rose  stealthily  to  their  feet.  Like  avenging 
furies  they  bent  over  the  sleepers,  tomahawk 
in  hand,  and  dealt  blow  after  blow  in  rapid 
and  fatal  succession.  The  very  Indian  who  had 
shown  the  boy  how  to  make  death  swift  and 
silent  was  the  first  to  die  under  his  pupil's  tom 
ahawk.  None  escaped  except  one  young  In 
dian  lad  and  a  squaw,  who,  badly  wounded, 
ran  screaming  into  the  forest. 

Then  followed  the  gory  work  of  scalping 
[15] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

the  dead  —  for  Mrs.  Duston  was  nothing  if 
not  thorough,  and  she  knew  that  without  the 
ghastly  trophies  no  one  would  believe  her  tale 
—  and  after  this  a  canoe  was  launched  and  the 
homeward  voyage  begun. 

It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  add  that  the 
daring  trio  reached  Haverhill  in  safety,  though 
half  dead  from  fatigue  and  hunger;  that  the 
news  of  their  exploit  sped  like  wild-fire  through 
the  colonies;  that  the  Great  and  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts  voted  all  three  of 
them  a  goodly  reward;  and  that  even  the  gov 
ernor  of  faraway  Maryland  sent  a  pewter 
tankard  to  Mrs.  Duston  as  evidence  of  his  ad 
miration  for  the  pluck,  resourcefulness,  and 
self-reliance  she  had  shown. 

On  a  different  order  but  similarly  illustra 
tive  of  the  tragic  experiences  and  sterling 
characteristics  of  the  women  of  early  New 
England,  is  the  story  of  the  captivity  of  Mrs. 
Mary  Rowlandson  as  told  by  herself  in  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  narratives  coming  to 
[16] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

us  from  those  long-gone  times.1  Mrs.  Rowland- 
son  was  the  wife  of  the  Reverend  Joseph  Row- 
landson,  pastor  at  Lancaster,  Massachusetts, 
a  settlement  which,  in  February,  1676,  was 
raided  and  laid  in  ashes  by  a  large  body  of 
Nashua  and  Nipmuck  Indians  under  the  leader 
ship  of  one  of  the  chief  lieutenants  of  the  re 
doubtable  King  Philip.  The  red  men,  as  was 
their  custom,  attacked  the  place  soon  after 
dawn,  and  those  of  the  settlers  who  had  time 
to  do  so  fled  for  protection  to  the  Rowlandson 
house,  the  largest  in  Lancaster.  After  burning 
the  outlying  cabins  and  killing  a  number  of 
fugitives  whom  they  intercepted,  Mrs.  Row 
landson  tells  us,  in  language  that  could  scarcely 
be  improved  as  a  vivid  portrayal  of  the  horrors 
of  the  raid : 

"  At  length  they  came  and  beset  our  house; 

"  The  Soveraignty  and  Goodness  of  God,  Together 
with  the  Faithfulness  of  His  Promises  Displayed.  Being  a 
Narrative  of  the  Captivity  and  Restauration  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Rowlandson,  Written  by  her  own  Hand  for  her  private 
Use,  and  now  made  Public  at  the  earnest  Desire  of  some 
Friends."  First  printed  in  1682. 

[17] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

and  quickly  it  was  the  dolefullest  day  that 
mine  eyes  ever  saw. 

"  The  house  stood  up  on  the  edge  of  a  hill. 
Some  of  the  Indians  got  behind  the  hill,  others 
into  the  barn,  and  others  behind  anything  that 
would  shelter  them;  from  all  which  places  they 
shot  against  the  house,  so  that  the  bullets 
seemed  to  fly  like  hail;  and  quickly  they 
wounded  one  man  among  us,  then  another,  and 
then  a  third. 

"  About  two  hours,  according  to  my  ob 
servation  in  that  amazing  time,  they  had  been 
about  the  house  before  they  prevailed  to  fire 
it,  which  they  did  with  flax  and  hemp  which 
they  brought  out  of  the  barn.  And  there  being 
no  defense  about  the  house,  only  two  old 
flankers  at  two  opposite  corners,  and  one  of 
them  not  finished,  they  fired  it  once;  and  one 
ventured  out  and  quenched  it.  But  they 
quickly  fired  it  again;  and  that  took. 

"  Now  is  the  dreadful  hour  come  that  I 
have  often  heard  of  in  the  time  of  the  war,  as 
[18] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

it  was  the  case  of  others;  but  now  mine  eyes 
see  it. 

"  Some  in  our  house  were  righting  for  their 
lives,  others  wallowing  in  blood,  the  house  on 
fire  over  our  heads,  and  the  bloody  heathen 
ready  to  knock  us  on  the  head  if  we  stirred  out. 

"  Now  might  we  hear  mothers  and  children 
crying  out  for  themselves  and  one  another, 
6  Lord,  what  shall  we  do?  ' 

'  Then  I  took  my  children  and  one  of  my 
sister's  girls,  to  go  forth  and  leave  the  house; 
but,  as  soon  as  we  came  to  the  door  and  ap 
peared,  the  Indians  shot  so  thick  that  the 
bullets  rattled  against  the  house  as  if  one  had 
taken  a  handful  of  stones  and  threw  them; 
so  that  we  were  forced  to  give  back.  .  .  .  But 
out  we  must  go,  the  fire  increasing  and  coming 
along  behind  us  roaring,  and  the  Indians  ga 
ping  before  us  with  their  spears  and  hatchets 
to  devour  us. 

"  No  sooner  were  we  out  of  the  house,  but 
my  brother-in-law  (being  before  wounded  in 
[191 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

defending  the  house,  in  or  near  the  throat) 
fell  down  dead;  whereat  the  Indians  scornfully 
shouted  and  hallooed,  and  were  presently 
upon  him  stripping  off  his  clothes. 

'*  The  bullets  flying  thick,  one  went  through 
my  side,  and  the  same  (as  would  seem)  through 
the  bowels  and  hand  of  my  poor  child  in  my 
arms. 

"  One  of  my  elder  sister's  children,  named 
William,  had  then  his  leg  broken,  which  the 
Indians  perceiving  knocked  him  on  the  head. 

"  Thus  were  we  butchered  by  those  merciless 
heathen,  standing  amazed,  with  the  blood 
running  down  our  heels. 

"  My  eldest  sister,  seeing  her  William  and 
others  dead,  exclaimed,  '  Lord,  let  me  die  with 
them! '  At  the  same  moment  a  bullet  struck 
her;  and  she  fell  down  dead  over  the  threshold. 

"  The  Indians  laid  hold  of  us,  pulling  me 

one  way  and  the  children  another,  and  said, 

'  Come,  go  along  with  us.'     I  told  them  they 

would  kill  me.     They  answered,   '  If  I  were 

[20] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

willing  to  go  along  with  them  they  would  not 
hurt  me.'  " 

This  marked  the  beginning  of  an  agonizing 
captivity,  during  which  Mrs.  Rowlandson, 
separated  from  all  her  children  but  the  wounded 
one,  was  taken  from  place  to  place  in  central 
and  western  Massachusetts,  and  up  into  New 
Hampshire.  For  the  first  week,  despite  the 
pain  of  her  own  wound,  she  carried  her  stricken 
child  in  her  arms,  ever  praying  that  it  would 
survive.  But  this  consolation  was  denied  her, 
the  little  one  dying  in  an  Indian  wigwam  on 
the  eighth  night  of  the  captivity.  For  two  days 
afterwards  she  hugged  the  tiny  corpse  to  her 
breast,  until  the  Indians,  moved  to  some  de 
gree  of  pity  by  the  sight  of  her  intense  grief, 
took  it  forcibly  from  her  and  buried  it. 

And  now,  rallying  from  the  shock  of  her 
bereavement  and  of  the  terrible  scenes  through 
which  she  had  passed,  and  determining  to 
make  every  effort  to  rejoin  her  husband,  who 
fortunately  for  himself  had  been  absent  from 
[211 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

Lancaster  the  day  of  the  raid,  Mrs.  Rowlandson 
sought  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  Indians  by 
accompanying  them  without  the  slightest  pro 
test  in  all  their  aimless  wanderings.  It  was  her 
hope  that  their  watchfulness  might  sufficiently 
relax  to  allow  her  to  make  her  escape.  They 
did,  it  is  true,  become  friendly  and  kind  to  her; 
yet  at  no  time  did  an  opportunity  for  flight 
present  itself.  To  add  to  her  trials  the  food 
supply  began  to  run  low,  and  she  was  soon  put 
on  the  most  meagre  diet.  The  extent  to  which 
she  suffered  in  this  respect  —  but  suffered  un 
complainingly  —  may  readily  be  inferred  from 
a  passing  reference  in  her  narrative  to  a  curious 
adventure  she  had  with  King  Philip  himself, 
whom  she  met  for  the  first  time  about  a  month 
after  she  had  been  taken  prisoner. 

"  Philip,"  she  says,  "  spoke  to  me  to  make 
a  shirt  for  his  boy,  which  I  did;  for  which  he 
gave  me  a  shilling.  I  offered  the  money  to  my 
mistress;  but  she  bid  me  keep  it,  and  with  it 
I  bought  a  piece  of  horse-flesh.  Afterwards 
[22] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

he  asked  me  to  make  a  cap  for  his  boy,  for 
which  he  invited  me  to  dinner.  I  went;  and 
he  gave  me  a  pancake  about  as  big  as  two 
fingers;  it  was  made  of  parched  wheat,  beaten, 
and  fried  in  bear's  grease;  but  I  thought  I  never 
tasted  pleasanter  meat  in  my  life." 

In  the  end  the  seeming  misfortune  of 
starvation  proved  of  the  happiest  fortune  to 
her.  The  New  England  authorities,  spurred 
to  action  by  Mr.  Rowlandson's  ceaseless  en 
treaties,  offered  King  Philip  a  liberal  reward 
for  her  release;  and  Philip,  himself  in  urgent 
need  of  sustenance,  was  prompt  to  accept  it. 
Once  freed,  Mrs.  Rowlandson  made  her  way 
to  Boston,  and  there,  with  courage  unabated 
and  rejoicing  in  the  similarly  effected  liberation 
of  her  surviving  children,  joined  with  her  hus 
band  in  the  task  of  upbuilding  a  new  home.1 

Courage,  endurance,  and  independence  of 
spirit  were,  indeed,  prime  characteristics  of 

1  The  Rowlandsons  removed  to  Wethersfield,  Connecticut, 
in  1677,  Mr.  Rowlandson  having  been  appointed  pastor  of 
the  church  there. 

[231 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

the  pioneer  women  in  times  of  peace  as  well 
as  in  times  of  war.  Though,  like  the  women  of 
all  ages  and  all  lands,  they  instinctively  looked 
to  men  for  support  and  protection,  they  could, 
if  need  be,  make  their  own  way  in  the  world, 
and  make  it  well. 

This  brings  us  to  a  most  interesting  fact  — 
namely,  that  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose 
that  the  American  "  business  woman  "  is  a 
modern  product.  She  was  present  and  took 
a  conspicuous  part  in  the  early  development 
of  every  American  colony.  Thus,  among  the 
founders  of  Taunton  in  Massachusetts  was  a 
certain  Elizabeth  Poole,  who,  according  to 
the  inscription  on  her  tombstone,  was  "  a 
great  proprietor  of  the  township  of  Taunton, 
a  chief  promoter  of  its  settlement."  In  fact, 
an  entry  in  Governor  Winthrop's  journal, 
under  date  of  1637,  leaves  no  doubt  that  she 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  that  section  of 
the  Bay  State.  ''  This  year,"  the  entry  runs, 
"  a  plantation  was  begun  at  Tecticutt  by  a 
[241 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

gentlewoman,  an  ancient  maid,  one  Mrs.  Poole. 
She  went  late  thither,  and  endured  much  hard 
ship  and  lost  much  cattle." 

A  nineteen-year-old  girl  named  Elizabeth 
Haddon  made  the  long  oversea  journey  to 
open  up  a  tract  of  land  which  her  father  had 
secured  in  New  Jersey,  and  her  fame  is  perpet 
uated  in  the  name  of  the  town  of  Haddonfield. 
Madame  Mary  Ferree,  the  widow  of  a  French 
Huguenot,  was  the  energetic  cultivator  of 
twenty-five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  Governor  Winthrop  of  New  Haven,  son 
of  the  celebrated  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts, 
found  one  of  his  ablest  assistants  in  the  person 
of  Mrs.  John  Davenport,  wife  of  the  local 
minister.  New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia 
boasted  "  merchant  princesses "  while  they 
were  still  little  better  than  villages.  In  Vir 
ginia  the  records  remind  us  of  several  "  acute, 
ingenious  gentlewomen  "  who  operated  pros 
perous  tobacco  plantations. 

But  by  far  the  most  remarkable  among  the 
[25] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

X1 

first  American  women  of  business  was  Mrs. 
Margaret  Brent  of  Maryland.  Not  only  did 
she  win  distinction  as  a  financier,  but  she  was 
the  first  American  "  suffragette."  Coming  to 
Maryland  in  1638,  she  so  gained  the  confidence 
of  her  kinsman,  Governor  Leonard  Calvert, 
that  in  his  will  he  named  her  as  his  sole  execu 
trix.  One  of  her  first  acts  in  this  capacity  was 
to  quell  a  budding  mutiny  among  Maryland's 
small  army  by  selling  some  of  the  state  cattle 
to  meet  the  soldiers'  arrears  of  pay.  Lord 
Baltimore,  the  proprietor,  severely  reprimanded 
her  for  thus  "  meddling  "with  affairs  of  govern 
ment,  but  the  Assembly  gallantly  rallied  to  her 
support.  Said  they,  in  a  joint  letter  to  the  an 
gry  proprietor: 

"  As  for  Mrs.  Brent's  undertaking  and  med 
dling  with  your  Lordship's  estate  here.  ...  we 
do  verily  believe  and  in  conscience  report  that 
it  was  better,  for  the  colony's  safety  at  that 
time,  in  her  hands  than  in  any  man's  else  in 
the  whole  province  after  your  brother's  death. 
[26] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

For  the  soldiers  would  never  have  treated  any 
other  with  that  civility  and  respect,  and  though 
they  were  even  ready  at  several  times  to  run 
into  mutiny  yet  she  still  pacified  them,  till  at 
the  last  things  were  brought  to  that  strait 
that  she  must  be  admitted  and  declared  your 
Lordship's  attorney  by  an  order  of  court  (the 
copy  whereof  is  herewith  enclosed)  or  else  all 
must  go  to  ruin  again,  and  then  the  second 
mischief  had  been  doubtless  far  greater  than 
the  former.  So  that  if  there  hath  not  been  any 
sinister  use  made  of  your  Lordship's  estate 
by  her  from  what  it  was  intimated  and  engaged 
for  by  Mr.  Calvert  before  his  death  —  as 
we  verily  believe  she  hath  not  —  then  we  con 
ceive  from  that  time  she  rather  deserved  favor 
and  thanks  from  your  Honor  for  her  so  much 
concurring  to  the  public  safety  than  to  be 
justly  liable  to  all  those  bitter  invectives 
you  have  been  pleased  to  express  against 
her."  i 

i  "  Archives  of  Maryland,"  vol.  i,  pp.  238-239. 
[27] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

The  assemblymen  themselves  frowned  upon 
her,  however,  when  she  appeared  before  them 
one  day  and  insisted  that,  as  "  his  lordship's 
attorney,"  she  be  given  vote  and  voice  in  the 
House.  As  the  report  of  the  proceedings  puts 
it,  in  the  quaint  phraseology  of  the  time: 
"  The  Governor  denied  that  the  said  Mrs. 
Brent  should  have  any  vote  in  the  House.  And 
the  said  Mrs.  Brent  protested  against  all  pro 
ceedings  in  this  present  Assembly  unless  she 
be  present  and  have  vote  aforesaid."  After 
which,  having  spoken  her  mind,  "  the  said 
Mrs.  Brent  "  turned  on  her  heel,  left  the  as 
tounded  legislators  staring  after  her,  and  walked 
out  to  resume  the  management  of  her  extensive 
interests. 

Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  of  Boston  was  another 
fervent  advocate  of  woman's  rights.  She  has, 
for  that  matter,  been  called  the  first  American 
club- woman.  But  her  chief  claim  to  fame  rests 
on  the  fact  that  she  was  the  forerunner  of  an 
illustrious  line  of  American  women  to  champion 
[28] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

actively  the  great  cause  of  freedom  of  thought 
and  speech. 

America,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  not 
always  a  land  of  liberty.  Though  its  early 
settlers  were  in  the  main  refugees  from  bigotry 
and  oppression,  they  did  not  as  a  rule  bring 
with  them  any  lively  desire  to  extend  to  others 
the  toleration  which  they  themselves  had  been 
unable  to  find  in  the  Old  World.  Rather,  they 
frequently  made  life  most  unhappy  to  any  who 
chanced  to  differ  from  them  in  religious  and 
political  convictions. 

This  was  particularly  true  of  Massachusetts, 
where  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities 
joined  hands  to  build  up  a  governmental  machine 
of  the  most  despotic  character.  Fortunately, 
the  machine  had  hardly  got  well  in  motion 
before  champions  of  liberty  arose  to  oppose  it 
and  to  sow  in  Massachusetts  the  seeds  which 
were  to  give  such  a  wonderful  harvest  to  future 
generations.  Prominent  among  the  earliest 
of  these  champions  of  liberty  was  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
[29] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

son,  who  settled  at  Boston  with  her  husband  in 
1634. 

From  the  first  she  was  recognized  as  an 
uncommonly  gifted  woman.  Even  Governor 
Winthrop,  who  became  her  deadly  enemy,  ad 
mitted  that  she  was  "  a  woman  of  ready  wit 
and  bold  spirit."  Other  leaders  of  Boston  so 
ciety,  including  the  famous  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
were  willing  captives  to  the  brilliancy  of  her 
intellect  and  the  charm  of  her  manner,  and 
liked  nothing  better  than  to  spend  an  afternoon 
at  her  home  at  the  corner  of  School  and  Wash 
ington  streets.  Whatever  subject  might  be 
brought  up  for  discussion,  she  was  always  sure 
to  illumine  it  with  original  and  piquant  com 
ment.  But  her  greatest  interest  was  in  helping 
and  elevating  her  own  sex,  and  this  eventually 
led  to  her  undoing. 

So  long  as  she  confined  herself  to  assisting 
women  who  were  in  want,  and  nursing  women 
who  were  ill,  the  authorities  raised  no  objec 
tions.  But  when  she  began  to  hold  weekly 
[30] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

meetings  to  which  women  alone  were  admitted, 
official  Boston  looked  at  her  askance.  It  was 
rumored  that  theological  topics  of  the  most 
delicate  nature  were  openly  debated  at  these 
meetings,  and  that  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  prop 
agating  most  unorthodox  views. 

Taking  alarm,  the  Court  determined  to 
investigate  her  doings,  and  upon  this  a  pretty 
storm  developed.  It  was  discovered  that  she 
did  actually  hold  novel  theological  opinions; 
but  it  was  also  discovered  that  she  had  gained 
a  strong  following,  including  Sir  Henry  Vane, 
who  was  then  governor.  An  attempt  to  pros 
ecute  her  resulted  only  in  the  formation  of 
factions,  which  attacked  one  another  in  noisy 
controversy. 

With  the  defeat  of  Sir  Henry  Vane  for  re 
election,  and  his  departure  for  England,  matters 
took  a  new  turn.  Vane's  successor,  Winthrop, 
was  a  bitter  anti-Hutchinsonite,  and  he 
promptly  placed  Mrs.  Hutchinson  on  trial 
as  a  person  "  not  fit  for  our  society."  Said  he, 
[31] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

in    addressing    her    at    the    opening    of    the 
trial: 

"  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  you  are  called  here  as 
one  of  those  that  have  troubled  the  peace  of  the 
commonwealth  and  the  churches.  You  are 
known  to  be  a  woman  that  hath  had  a  great 
share  in  the  promoting  and  divulging  of  those 
opinions  that  are  causes  of  this  trouble,  and 
to  be  nearly  joined  not  only  in  affinity  and  af 
fection  with  some  of  those  the  court  hath 
taken  notice  of  and  passed  censure  upon,  but 
you  have  spoken  divers  things,  as  we  have  been 
informed,  very  prejudicial  to  the  honor  of  the 
churches  and  ministers  thereof;  and  you  have 
maintained  a  meeting  and  an  assembly  in  your 
house  that  hath  been  condemned  by  the 
General  Assembly  as  a  thing  not  tolerable 
nor  comely  in  the  sight  of  God,  nor  fitting  for 
your  sex;  and  notwithstanding  that  was  cried 
down,  you  have  continued  the  same." 

She  was  brought  to  the  bar  like  any  ordinary  \ 
criminal,    and   mercilessly   bullied   and   brow- 
[321 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

beaten.  She  was  denied  counsel,  and  thrown 
entirely  on  her  own  defense,  and  from  the  first 
it  was  evident  that  the  judges  intended  de 
ciding  against  her.  For  some  time  she  parried 
their  questions  skilfully,  but  at  last  she  was 
trapped  into  some  damaging  admissions, 
and  sentence  of  banishment  was  at  once 
passed. 

Accompanied  by  her  faithful  husband,  the 
unfortunate  woman  sought  a  new  home  in 
tolerant  Rhode  Island;  whence,  after  her 
husband's  death,  she  removed  to  a  frontier 
settlement  in  New  York,  not  far  from  New 
Rochelle.  There  she  perished  in  an  Indian 
massacre.  It  is  said  that  the  news  of  her  fate 
was  received  with  grim  satisfaction  by  her 
persecutors.  As  the  implacable  Winthrop 
phrased  it,  they  felt  that  she  had  met  the 
just  vengeance  of  God. 

But  there  were  women  who  suffered  even 
more  severely  in  behalf  of  freedom  of  thought 
and  speech  than  did  Mrs.  Hutchinson.  In 
[33] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

1656  two  Quakers,  Ann  Austin  and  Mary 
Fisher,  were  seized  upon  their  arrival  in  Boston, 
thrown  into  prison,  starved,  stripped  naked 
and  searched  for  witch-marks,  and  finally 
shipped  to  Barbadoes.  They  were  the  first 
representatives  in  Massachusetts  of  a  sect 
which  claimed  liberty  of  conscience  as  an  in 
alienable  right  of  the  human  race.  The  cruelty 
of  the  reception  given  them  did  not  deter  others 
from  following  their  example,  and  before  long 
there  was  a  veritable  invasion  of  apostles  of 
toleration.  Converts  multiplied  all  through 
the  colony,  while  the  authorities  stood  aghast, 
rightly  believing  that  if  the  Quaker  ideas 
prevailed,  they  would  no  longer  be  able  to  rule 
with  the  iron  hand  of  absolutism.  Accordingly, 
they  enacted  a  series  of  drastic  laws,  culmina 
ting  in  one  decreeing  the  death  penalty  to  any 
Quaker  who,  having  once  been  banished, 
should  venture  again  into  Massachusetts. 

Among    the    stanchest    supporters  of    Mrs. 
Hutchinson  had  been  a  young  Boston  matron 
[34] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

named  Mary  Dyer  and  her  husband,  William 
Dyer.  When  the  Hutchinsons  took  refuge  in 
Rhode  Island,  the  Dyers  followed  them,  set 
tling  at  Newport,  where  they  soon  became  people 
of  consequence.  Some  years  later  Mrs.  Dyer, 
who  is  reported  to  have  been  of  a  "  wonderful 
sweet  and  pleasant  discourse,  having  a  pier 
cing  knowledge  in  many  things,"  made  a  long 
visit  in  England.  While  there  she  became  a 
convert  to  Quakerism,  and  on  returning  to 
America  by  way  of  Boston  was  thrown  into 
prison  for  this  heinous  crime.  In  vain  she  ex 
plained  to  the  Boston  magistrates  that  she 
was  simply  passing  through  Massachusetts. 
They  would  not  release  her  until  her  husband, 
who  was  not  a  Quaker,  arrived  from  Rhode 
Island  and  promised  to  take  her  home  and  allow 
her  to  speak  to  no  one  until  the  Massachusetts 
boundary  had  been  reached. 

This  was  in  1657.    Two  years  later  she  was 
found  visiting  some  Quaker  prisoners  in  Boston, 
and  this  time  she  was  formally  banished  with  a 
[351 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

warning  that  did  she  return  the  hanging  law 
would  be  enforced  against  her. 

"  That  is  a  cruel  law,"  said  she,  "  and  ought 
to  be  repealed." 

Within  a  month  she  was  back  in  Boston  to 
demand  fair  treatment  for  the  Quakers,  two 
of  whom  were  lying  under  sentence  of  death. 
Her  own  imprisonment  quickly  followed,  and 
then  came  a  short  and  speedy  trial. 

"  Mary  Dyer,"  Governor  Endicott  told  her 
sternly,  "  you  shall  go  hence  to  the  place  from 
whence  you  came,  and  from  thence  to  the  place 
of  execution,  and  there  be  hanged  until  you  be 
dead." 

"  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done,"  was  all  she 
said.  "  Yea,  and  joyfully  I  go." 

In  the  interval  between  her  condemnation 
and  the  day  set  for  her  execution  she  main 
tained  the  same  spirit  of  calm  fortitude,  and 
spent  part  of  her  time  in  writing  an  "  Appeal 
to  the  General  Court  in  Boston  "  for  the  re 
mission  not  of  the  death  sentence  passed  on 
[361 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

her  but  of  that  previously  passed  on  her  two 
fellow-sufferers.  This  document  may  well  be 
quoted  in  part,  both  because  of  its  historical 
importance  and  because  of  the  impressive  light 
it  throws  on  the  beautiful  character  of  hapless 
Mary  Dyer. 

"  Whereas,"  it  began,  "  I  am  by  many  charged 
with  the  guiltiness  of  my  own  blood;  if  you 
mean,  in  my  coming  to  Boston,  I  am  therein 
clear  and  justified  by  the  Lord,  in  whose  will 
I  came,  who  will  require  my  blood  of  you,  be 
sure,  who  have  made  a  law  to  take  away  the 
lives  of  the  innocent  servants  of  God,  if  they 
come  among  you,  who  are  called  by  you, 
'Cursed  Quakers;'  altho'  I  say  —  and  am  a 
living  witness  for  them  and  the  Lord  —  that 
He  hath  blessed  them,  and  sent  them  unto 
you.  Therefore  be  not  found  fighters  against 
God,  but  let  my  counsel  and  request  be  ac 
cepted  with  you,  to  repeal  all  such  laws,  that 
the  Truth  and  servants  of  the  Lord  may  have 
free  passage  among  you,  and  you  be  kept  from 
[371 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

shedding  innocent  blood,  which  I  know  there 
are  many  among  you  would  not  do,  if  they  knew 
it  so  to  be.  Nor  can  the  Enemy  that  stirreth 
you  up  thus  to  destroy  this  Holy  Seed,  in  any 
measure  countervail  the  great  damage  that 
you  will  by  thus  doing  procure.  Therefore, 
seeing  the  Lord  hath  not  hid  it  from  me,  it 
lyeth  upon  me,  in  love  to  your  souls,  thus  to 
persuade  you. 

"  I  have  no  self-ends,  the  Lord  knoweth,  for 
if  my  life  were  freely  granted  by  you,  it  would 
not  avail  me,  nor  could  I  accept  it  of  you,  so 
long  as  I  should  daily  hear  or  see  the  sufferings 
of  these  people,  my  dear  Brethren  and  Seed,  with 
whom  my  life  is  bound  up,  as  I  have  done  these 
two  years.  .  .  .  Wo  is  me  for  you!  Of  whom 
take  you  counsel?  Search  with  the  Light  of 
Christ  in  ye,  and  it  will  show  you  of  whom,  as 
it  hath  done  me  and  many  more,  who  have  been 
disobedient  and  deceived,  as  now  you  are; 
which  Light,  as  you  come  into,  and  obeying 
what  is  made  manifest  to  you  therein,  you  will 
[38] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

not  repent  that  you  were  kept  from  shedding 
blood,  tho'  it  were  by  a  woman.  It's  not  mine 
own  life  I  seek  (for  I  chuse  rather  to  suffer  with 
the  people  of  God  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures 
of  Egypt)  but  the  life  of  the  Seed,  which  I 
know  the  Lord  hath  blessed;  and  therefore 
seeks  the  Enemy  thus  vehemently  the  life 
thereof  to  destroy,  as  in  all  ages  he  ever  did. 

"  Oh,  hearken  not  unto  him,  I  beseech  you, 
for  the  Seed's  sake,  which  is  one  in  all,  and  is 
dear  in  the  sight  of  God;  which  they  that 
touch,  touch  the  apple  of  His  eye,  and  cannot 
escape  his  wrath.  ...  In  love  and  in  the 
spirit  of  meekness  I  again  beseech  you,  for  I 
have  no  enmity  to  the  persons  of  any;  but  you 
shall  know  that  God  will  not  be  mocked,  but 
what  you  sow  that  shall  you  reap  from  Him, 
that  will  render  to  everyone  according  to  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body,  whether  good  or  evil."  1 

The   influence   of   this   appeal   on   those   to 

1  George  Bishop's  "  New  England  Judged  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,"  pp.  288-292. 

[39] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

whom  it  was  addressed  was  absolutely  nil. 
But  public  opinion  was  fast  becoming  aroused 
by  the  persecution  of  the  Quakers,  and  even 
the  bigoted  Endicott  shrank  from  executing 
the  death  sentence  against  a  woman.  With  a 
refinement  of  cruelty,  however,  it  was  resolved 
to  reprieve  Mrs.  Dyer  only  at  the  last  moment. 

Under  a  strong  military  guard,  detailed  lest 
a  rescue  might  be  attempted,  she  and  the  two 
men  previously  sentenced  were  taken  to  Boston 
Common,  where  the  gallows  had  been  erected. 
One  after  the  other  her  companions  were  ex 
ecuted  before  her  eyes;  the  rope  was  adjusted 
to  her  neck,  and  she  began  to  ascend  the  fatal 
ladder.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  was  she  told 
that  it  was  not  intended  she  should  die. 

Carried  back  to  jail,  she  learned  that  the 
reprieve  was  contingent  on  her  consenting  to 
leave  Massachusetts  and  promising  to  stay 
out  of  it.  In  simple  but  eloquent  language  she 
refused. 

"  My  life,"  said  she,  "  is  not  accepted, 
[401 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

neither  availeth  me,  in  comparison  with  the 
lives  and  liberty  of  the  Truth  and  servants  of 
the  living  God,  for  which  in  the  bowels  of  love 
and  meekness  I  sought  you;  yet  nevertheless, 
with  wicked  hands  have  you  put  two  of  them 
to  death,  which  makes  me  to  feel  that  the 
mercies  of  the  wicked  is  cruelty.  I  rather 
chuse  to  dye  than  to  live,  as  from  you,  as  guilty 
of  their  innocent  blood."  1 

Now,  however,  the  authorities  had  only 
the  one  thought  of  getting  her  off  their  hands. 
Despite  her  protests  she  was  hurried  from  Boston 
and  escorted  into  Rhode  Island. 

For  a  few  months  nothing  more  was  heard 
from  her.  Then,  having  definitely  made  up 
her  mind  that  it  was  the  Lord's  will  she  should 
combat  even  unto  death  the  cruel  persecution 
of  her  fellow-religionists,  she  once  more  came 
to  Boston,  once  more  was  arrested,  and  once 
more  sentenced  to  die.  This  time,  Endicott 
assured  her,  the  sentence  would  be  carried  out. 
i  Bishop's  "  New  England,"  p.  311. 

[411 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

"  Listen,  then,"  said  she,  "  I  came  in  obedi 
ence  to  the  will  of  God  the  last  General  Court, 
desiring  thee  to  repeal  thy  unrighteous  laws 
of  banishment  on  pain  of  death ;  and  that  same 
is  my  work  now  and  earnest  request." 

"  Away  with  her,  away  with  her,"  com 
manded  Endicott. 

Again,  as  she  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder, 
she  was  told  that  she  might  yet  save  herself 
by  promising  to  go  home  and  to  remain  there. 

"  Nay,  I  cannot.  For  in  obedience  to  the 
will  of  the  Lord  I  came,  and  in  His  will  I  abide 
faithful  to  the  death." 

Without  a  tremor  she  stepped  up  the  ladder, 
rung  by  rung.  A  great  hush  among  the  crowd, 
a  quick  motion  of  the  executioner's  hand,  and 
her  last  moment  had  come. 

It  is  many  a  day  since  Mary  Dyer,  martyr 
of  liberty,  met  her  doom  on  Boston  Common  — 
many  a  day  since  Anne  Hutchinson,  Margaret 
Brent,  Hannah  Duston,  Mary  Rowlandson, 
and  all  other  of  the  worthy  women  of  early 
[42] 


IN    THE    TIME    OF    THE    FOUNDING 

America  passed  across  the  stage  of  life.  But 
the  lessons  they  taught  and  the  works  they 
wrought  have  never  ceased  to  influence  for 
good  the  heart  and  thought  of  the  nation. 


[43] 


CHAPTER  II 

LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES  AND  HOUSEWIVES 

THERE  is  no  period  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States  about  which  so  little  is 
known  as  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Until  quite  recently  the  general  historian  has 
never  pretended  to  describe  it  in  detail,  but 
has  passed  rapidly  from  the  picturesque  and 
romantic  time  of  the  founding  to  the  impress 
ive  era  of  the  Revolution.  Yet,  as  modern  in 
vestigators  are  beginning  to  make  very  clear,  it 
is  a  period  of  vital  interest  and  significance. 
It  witnessed  a  really  remarkable  cultural  and 
intellectual  development  —  a  breaking  away 
from  the  crudities  and  austerities  of  the  early 
colonization,  and  the  upbuilding  of  a  social 
structure  which  foreshadowed  the  distinctive 
traits  of  American  society  to-day. 
[44] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

Politically,  it  was  marked  by  many  occur 
rences  and  movements  of  profound  importance 
when  viewed  in  the  light  of  later  events.  On 
the  economic  side,  conspicuous  changes  took 
place,  chief  among  which  was  the  extension 
of  the  area  of  cultivation  and  settlement  from 
the  coastal  country  to  the  edge  of  the  rock- 
rimmed  Mississippi  Basin.  In  a  word,  the  so- 
called  forgotten  half-century  was  a  period  of 
preparation,  a  period  wherein  the  road  was 
cleared  for  the  advent  of  the  mighty  nation 
of  the  future.  And  just  as  she  had  played  a 
striking  part  in  the  foundation-laying  of  the 
previous  century,  so  did  the  American  woman 
contribute  in  many  and  various  ways  to  this 
clearing  of  the  road. 

Not  the  least  of  her  contributions,  and  cer 
tainly  the  most  fascinating  to  her  latter-day 
descendants  who  fondly  piece  together  the 
scattered  records  of  her  doings,  is  the  insistence 
with  which  she  emphasized  the  lighter  side  of 
life.  Protest  though  they  might,  and  did, 
[451 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

such  frowning  citadels  of  asceticism  as  Boston 
and  Philadelphia  were  forced  to  follow  the  lead 
of  more  liberal  communities  and  surrender  to 
her  demand  for  gaiety  and  entertainment. 

In  all  the  larger  centers  of  population  bright 
raiment  replaced  the  sober  garb  of  former  times. 
As  early  as  1704  a  traveler  recorded  that  the 
Englishwomen  of  New  York  "  go  very  fashion 
able  in  their  dress,"  while  the  Dutchwomen 
"  set  out  their  ears  with  jewels  of  a  large  size 
and  many  in  number." 

The  century  was  still  young  when  the  tin 
kling  spinet,  that  curious  forerunner  of  our 
modern  piano,  made  its  way  across  the  Atlantic 
and  into  the  homes  of  the  well-to-do.  By  1712 
teachers  of  spinet-playing  found  it  profitable 
to  follow  their  profession  even  in  the  stanchest 
stronghold  of  Puritanism,  and  not  many  years 
afterward  dancing-masters  boldly  advertised 
for  patrons  in  the  city  of  William  Penn.  In 
deed,  the  famous  Philadelphia  Dancing  Assem 
bly  was  founded  as  long  ago  as  1719,  when 
[46] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

Governor  Hamilton  led  off  with  the  mayor's 
wife  in  the  first  dance  of  that  historic  series 
of  subscription  balls.  Concert-going,  sleigh- 
riding,  tea-parties,  and  "  turtle  frolics " 
much  like  the  clambakes  and  lobster-bakes  of 
to-day  —  were  other  popular  diversions  of 
the  eighteenth  century  belles  and  beaux  of^the 
North. 

In  Philadelphia  fishing-parties  constituted 
a  special  form  of  social  amusement,  as  we  learn 
from  the  mid-century  traveler,  Andrew  Bur- 
naby. 

"There  is,"  he  notes,  "  a  society  of  sixteen 
ladies  and  as  many  gentlemen  called  the  Fish 
ing  Company,  who  meet  once  a  fortnight  upon 
the  Schuylkill.  They  have  a  very  pleasant 
room  erected  in  a  romantic  situation  upon  the 
banks  of  that  river  where  they  generally  dine 
and  drink  tea.  There  are  several  pretty  walks 
about  it,  and  some  wild  and  rugged  rocks 
which,  together  with  the  water  and  fine  groves 
that  adorn  the  banks,  form  a  most  beautiful 
[47] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

and  picturesque  scene.  There  are  boats  and 
fishing  tackle  of  all  sorts,  and  the  company 
divert  themselves  with  walking,  fishing,  going 
up  the  water,  dancing,  singing,  conversing,  or 
just  as  they  please.  The  ladies  wear  a  uniform 
and  appear  with  great  ease  and  advantage 
from  the  neatness  and  simplicity  of  it.  The 
first  and«most  distinguished  people  of  the  colony 
are  of  this  society;  and  it  is  very  advantageous 
to  a  stranger  to  be  introduced  to  it,  as  he 
hereby  gets  acquainted  with  the  best  and  most 
respectable  company  in  Philadelphia." 

Of   New   York   society   the   same   observer 
records : 

'  The  women  are  handsome  and  agreeable, 
though  rather  more  reserved  than  the  Phila 
delphia  ladies.  Their  amusements  are  much 
the  same  as  in  Pennsylvania  —  viz,  balls  and 
sleighing  expeditions  in  the  winter,  and  in  the 
summer  going  in  parties  upon  the  water  and 
fishing;  or  making  excursions  into  the  country. 
There  are  several  houses  pleasantly  situated 
[48] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

upon  East  River,  near  New  York,  where  it 
is  common  to  have  turtle  feasts;  these  happen 
once  or  twice  in  a  week.  Thirty  or  forty  gentle 
men  and  ladies  meet  and  dine  together,  drink 
tea  in  the  afternoon,  fish  and  amuse  themselves 
till  evening,  and  then  return  home  in  Italian 
chaises,  a  gentleman  and  lady  in  each  chaise." 

Another  traveler  of  the  same  period  gives 
us  this  contrasting  view  of  the  amusements 
of  the  social  leaders  of  Boston,  where  dancing 
and  similar  forms  of  recreation  made  headway 
slowly : 

"  For  their  domestic  amusements  every  after 
noon  after  drinking  tea,  the  gentlemen  and 
ladies  walk  the  Mall,  and  from  there  adjourn 
to  one  another's  house  to  spend  the  evening, 
those  that  are  not  disposed  to  attend  the  evening 
lecture,  which  they  may  do  if  they  please  six 
nights  in  the  seven  the  year  round.  What  they 
call  the  Mall  is  a  walk  on  a  fine  green  common 
adjoining  to  the  south-east  side  of  the  town. 
The  government  being  in  the  hands  of  dissenters 
[491 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

they  don't  admit  of,  plays  or  music  houses; 
but  of  late  they  have  set  up  an  assembly  to 
which  some  of  the  ladies  resort.  But  they  are 
looked  upon  to  be  none  of  the  nicest,  in  regard 
to  their  reputation,  and  it  is  thought  it  will  be 
soon  suppressed,  for  it  is  much  taken  notice  of 
and  exploded  by  the  religious  and  other  part 
of  the  people.  But  notwithstanding  plays  and 
such  like  diversions  do  not  obtain  here,  they 
don't  be  dispirited  or  moped  for  the  want  of 
them,  for  both  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  dress 
and  appear  as  gay  in  common  as  courtiers 
in  England  on  a  coronation  or  birthday." 

In  the  South,  where  the  people  were  settled 
on  vast  plantations  rather  than  in  compact 
communities,  there  was  not  such  frequent  op 
portunity  for  intercourse.  But,  once  the  first 
difficulties  of  colonization  were  overcome,  a 
brilliant  social  life  speedily  developed.  As 
in  the  North,  dancing  was  a  favorite  recreation, 
both  on  the  plantations  and  in  the  towns. 
So,  too,  was  card-playing,  as  we  are  reminded 
[501 


LATER  COLONIAL   BELLES 

by  William  Black's  all-too-brief  description 
of  a  government  ball  which  he  attended  at 
Annapolis  in  1744.  It  was  held  in  the  council- 
chamber,  and  Black  reports  that  in  a  back 
room  "  those  that  was  not  engaged  in  any 
dancing  match  might  better  employ  them 
selves  at  cards,  dice,  backgammon,  or  with  a 
cheerful  glass." 

The  planters  when  at  home  kept  open  house, 
dispensing  hospitality  with  a  lavish  hand, 
while  their  wives  and  daughters,  in  silks  and 
satins  and  brocades,  greeted  the  coming  and 
sped  the  parting  guest  with  all  the  graciousness 
of  a  cultured  womanhood.  Weddings  were 
made  the  occasion  of  prolonged  and  notable 
festivities,  and  race-meets  early  became  a 
feature  of  Southern  life,  especially  in  the  Old 
Dominion. 

All  this,  of  course,  was  bitterly  denounced 
by  the  severer  type  of  moralists,  who  rightly 
held  the  women  of  the  colonies  chiefly  respon 
sible  for  the  revolt  against  the  former  order 
[511 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

of  things.  But,  as  we  of  the  present  can  see 
clearly  enough,  the  change  was  for  the  better. 
It  meant  the  creation  of  an  atmosphere  of 
refinement  and  moral  and  intellectual  freedom. 
It  encouraged  the  growth  of  cheerfulness  and 
contentment  in  a  country  where  life  was  still 
in  many  ways  hard  and  savage  and  depressing. 
Thus  it  was  an  important  element  in  preparing 
and  equipping  the  people  for  the  great  struggle 
that  was  to  be  the  paramount  fact  of  the  second 
half  of  the  century.  In  fact,  it  was  directly 
productive  of  leadership  for  that  struggle,  as 
is  shown  by  the  number  of  Revolutionary  he 
roes  born  of  mothers  who  delighted  in  manners 
and  customs  at  which  even  to-day  the  puritan 
ically  minded  look  askance. 

Let  us  make  no  mistake.  The  Puritan  point 
of  view  was,  and  is,  of  the  greatest  value  to  the 
Republic.  But  so  is  the  capacity  for  enjoying 
the  little  things  of  life,  so  long  as  it  does  not  de 
generate  into  mere  frivolity.  And  the  eighteenth 
century  girls  and  matrons,  who  glided  through 
[521 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

the  graceful  minuet,  went  gaily  on  sleigh-rides 
and  turtle  frolics,  or  cheered  the  victory  of 
some  favorite  horse,  were  assuredly  not  frivolous. 
It  needs  only  a  hasty  reading  of  contempo 
rary  letters  and  memoirs,  our  main  reliance  for 
the  social  history  of  the  period,  to  appreciate 
their  essential  earnestness  and  seriousness. 
They  were  the  best  of  housewives,  and  almost 
invariably  superintended  in  person  the  prep 
aration  of  the  dainty  dishes  set  forth  at  wedding- 
feast  and  dance-supper.  The  beautiful  gar 
ments  in  which  they  look  down  at  us  from  the 
pictured  canvas  on  the  wall,  were  often  fash 
ioned  by  their  own  hands.  If,  as  in  the  South 
and  on  the  forgotten  plantations  of  Rhode 
Island,  they  were  the  mistresses  of  noble  man 
sions  and  of  a  small  army  of  dependents,  they 
keenly  appreciated  the  duties  as  well  as  the 
privileges  which  this  entailed.  They  cheerfully 
looked  after  the  manifold  affairs  of  household 
management,  taught  their  servants  and  slaves 
the  domestic  sciences,  and  were  untiring  in 
[531 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

works  of  charity.  To  their  children  they  were 
always  the  best  of  mothers. 

Nothing  can  illustrate  more  clearly  the  spirit 
prevailing  among  the  women  who  moved  in 
the  "  fashionable  "  circles  of  eighteenth  century 
America  than  the  story  of  Eliza  Lucas  Pinck- 
ney,  the  mother  of  Thomas  and  Charles  Cotes- 
worth  Pinckney  of  Revolutionary  renown. 

Mrs.  Pinckney  1  was  the  daughter  of  Colonel 
George  Lucas,  an  English  officer  who,  about 
1738,  settled  near  Charleston  in  one  of  those 
magnificent  South  Carolina  plantation  homes 
of  which  Dray  ton  Hall  is  a  surviving  example. 
He  had  hoped  to  pass  his  days  in  peaceful  and 
prosperous  retirement,  but  when  war  broke 
out  between  England  and  Spain  he  was  ordered 
on  active  service,  and  was  obliged  to  sail  hur 
riedly  for  the  West  Indies,  leaving  his  young 
daughter  in  charge  of  his  Carolina  interests. 

1  The  life  story  of  Mrs.  Pinckney  is  told  in  detail  by  Mrs. 
H.  H.  Ravenel  in  "Eliza  Pinckney,"  an  admirable  little 
biography. 

[54] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

Although  not  more  than  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years  old,  and  of  a  lively  and  fun-loving  dis 
position,  the  little  Eliza  rose  splendidly  to  the 
occasion.  A  letter  written  to  a  friend  not  long 
after  her  father's  departure  gives  a  vivid 
glimpse  of  the  way  in  which  she  appreciated 
the  responsibility  thrust  upon  her. 

"  I  have  a  little  library,"  she  writes,  "  in 
which  I  spend  part  of  my  time.  My  music  and 
the  garden,  which  I  am  very  fond  of,  take  up 
the  rest  that  is  not  employed  in  business,  of 
which  my  father  has  left  me  a  pretty  good 
share;  and  indeed  'twas  unavoidable,  as  my 
mama's  bad  state  of  health  prevents  her  going 
thro'  any  fatigue.  I  have  the  business  of  three 
plantations  to  transact,  which  requires  much 
writing  and  more  business  and  fatigue  of  other 
sorts  than  you  can  imagine.  But  lest  you 
should  imagine  it  to  be  burdensome  to  a  girl 
at  my  early  time  of  life,  give  me  leave  to  assure 
you  that  I  think  myself  happy  that  I  can  be 
useful  to  so  good  a  father." 
[55] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Any  hope  that  Colonel  Lucas  would  soon 
return  to  America  was  dispelled  by  his  ap 
pointment  as  governor  of  Antigua,  and  the 
temporary  stewardship  which  his  daughter  had 
so  cheerfully  undertaken  thus  became  a  stew 
ardship  of  years.  But  instead  of  complaining 
or  shirking  her  duties,  she  enthusiastically  gave 
herself ^to  the  task  of  developing  the  plantations 
along  not  merely  profitable  but  also  novel 
lines,  embarking  on  a  series  of  agricultural 
experiments  unlike  any  formerly  attempted 
in  South  Carolina.  At  her  request,  her  father 
sent  her  the  seeds  of  indigo,  ginger,  and  other 
tropical  plants,  which  she  cultivated  with 
remarkable  success.  Moreover,  she  freely 
distributed  seed  to  other  planters  who  wished 
to  carry  on  similar  experiments,  and  in  this 
way  she  actually  became  the  founder  of  a  new 
agricultural  regime,  the  cultivation  of  indigo 
for  export  proving  so  remunerative  that  it  was 
soon  a  staple  product  of  the  South. 

The  growing  of  flax  and  hemp,  and,  at  a 
[56] 


LATER   COLONIAL  BELLES 

later  period,  the  development  of  a  silk  industry, 
were  other  activities  of  the  tireless  Miss  Lucas. 
And  that  she  was  not  only  extremely  diligent 
but  exceedingly  far-sighted  is  strikingly  evi 
denced  by  the  fact  that  she  laid  out  an  entire 
plantation  in  oaks,  in  anticipation  of  the  time 
when  the  colonies  would  need  more  ships  and 
would  turn  to  ship-building  themselves. 

Thus  her  days  were  spent  largely  in  the  open, 
and  in  occupations  usually  left  to  men.  But, 
as  her  correspondence  proves,  she  lost  none  of 
her  early  fondness  for  books  and  music.  Her 
letters  also  abound  in  references  to  "  festal 
days  "  at  Dray  ton  Hall,  and  other  of  the  man 
sions  on  the  Ashley.  She  was  a  frequent  vis 
itor  to  Charleston,  and  always  a  welcome  guest 
in  the  town  houses  of  such  social  leaders  as  the 
Middletons  and  the  Pinckneys. 

It  was  there  that  she  made  the  acquaintance 

of  her  future  husband,  Chief  Justice  Pinckney, 

whose  sudden  death  in  1758  left  her  a  widow 

at  the  early  age  of  thirty-six,  with  three  small 

[571 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

children  to  care  for,  and  several  plantations 
to  manage.  As  in  her  girlhood,  she  showed  her 
self  equal  to  the  emergency.  Even  while  still 
"  bitterly  oppressed  with  grief  "  she  began  to 
plan  for  the  future  of  her  little  ones,  and  just 
as  she  had  labored  for  her  father's  interests, 
so  now  she  labored  for  theirs.  Not  until  her 
sons  had  grown  to  manhood  did  her  vigilance 
and  diligence  relax. 

Passing  imperceptibly  into  a  gentle  old  age, 
she  still  made  her  influence  felt.  And  when  she 
died  —  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  American 
colonies  had  become  a  free  and  independent 
nation  —  wide  was  the  circle  that  mourned  her 
loss.  Washington,  we  are  told,  and  it  is  pleas 
ant  to  believe,  paid  his  tribute  to  this  noble 
American  mother  by  begging  to  be  one  of  those 
who  should  have  the  privilege  of  bearing  her 
to  her  last  resting-place. 

In  every  colony  were  to  be  found  women  like 
Eliza  Lucas  Pinckney  —  possessed  of  the  ad 
vantages  of  wealth  and  position,  ardent,  light- 
[581 


5* 

02 
P 

O 

a 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

hearted,  high-spirited,  but  right-minded  and 
earnest  and  brave.  They  were  women  of 
fine  ideals  and  fine  achievement.  Even  when 
their  dreams  did  not  come  true,  when  fate  was 
adverse  to  them,  they  left  traditions  that  have 
powerfully,  however  unconsciously,  influenced 
the  thought  and  conduct  of  posterity. 

I  am  reminded  of  the  tragic  tale  of  Hannah 
Robinson,1  which  I  heard  for  the  first  time  in 
the  shadow  of  her  old  home  overlooking  the 
waters  of  Narragansett  Bay.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  a  typical  Rhode  Island  planter, 
Rowland  Robinson,  whose  ample  acres  in 
cluded  much  of  the  country  round  about  the 
present  village  of  Saunderstown.  It  was,  like 
the  South,  a  region  of  vast  estates,  landed 
gentry,  and  slave  labor.  To-day  it  has  to  a 
considerable  extent  relapsed  into  wilderness, 
but  at  that  time  it  was  the  scene  of  a  picturesque 


1  This  account  follows  the  version  given  in  W.  Updike's 
"  History  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Narragansett "  (edition 
of  1847). 

[591 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

social  activity,  with  a  constant  coming  and 
going  between  the  plantations,  and  an 
abundance  of  hunting,  feasting,  and  dan 
cing. 

Into  this  gay  life  Hannah  Robinson  was  intro 
duced  at  an  early  age,  to  be  instantly  acclaimed 
the  reigning  belle  of  Narragansett,  and  be 
sieged  by  a  throng  of  eager  suitors.  Her  father, 
who  had  set  his  heart  on  marrying  her  into 
one  of  the  great  families  of  the  neighborhood, 
saw  with  delight  the  popularity  of  his  beautiful 
and  talented  daughter,  and  spared  no  pains 
to  impress  on  her  the  desirability  of  making 
a  brilliant  match.  It  then  developed,  to  his 
horrified  amazement,  that  she  had  already 
secretly  plighted  her  troth  to  a  young  and  ob 
scure  Newport  man  named  Simons,  whom  she 
had  met  at  a  dancing-school. 

"  Look  you,  father %"    said    she,    calmly,    in 

answer  to  his  torrent  of  furious  protestation, 

"  you  need  not  storm.    He  may  not  be  a  rich 

man,  but  he  is  a  good  man,  and  nothing  will 

[60] 


LATER   COLONIAL  BELLES 

induce   me   to   break  the  vow  I  have   taken, 
or    to     betray    the    faith    he    has    placed    in 


me." 


Then  began  a  bitter  persecution.  Deter 
mined  that  she  should  neither  see  nor  com 
municate  with  her  lover,  the  irate  Rowland 
Robinson  kept  a  constant  watch  on  his  daughter. 
If  she  took  a  walk  or  a  ride,  a  slave  was  sent 
to  follow  her.  Did  she  wish  to  visit  friends, 
permission  was  given  only  after  it  had  been 
made  absolutely  certain  that  Simons  would 
have  no  opportunity  of  meeting  her. 

Once,  the  story  goes,  after  she  had  started 
on  a  journey  to  New  London,  her  father  chanced 
to  spy  from  an  upper  window  a  vessel  sailing 
from  Newport.  Though  he  had  no  knowledge 
of  its  destination,  he  immediately  imagined 
that  it  was  bound  for  New  London,  and  that 
Simons  was  one  of  its  passengers.  Rushing 
down-stairs,  he  called  for  a  horse,  galloped 
post-haste  after  his  daughter,  and  compelled 
her  instant  return. 

[61] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

For  all  of  this,  the  lovers  managed  to  outwit 
him,  sometimes  meeting  even  on  the  Robinson 
grounds,  and  renewing  their  pledges  in  the 
peaceful  shelter  of  the  dense  shrubbery  about 
the  house.  And,  so  soon  as  the  long  strain 
began  to  tell  on  the  fair  Hannah's  health,  they 
found  allies  among  her  relatives,  particularly 
in  an  uncle,  Colonel  Gardiner,  who  bluntly 
informed  Rowland  Robinson  that  he  had  the 
option  between  seeing  his  daughter  die  by 
inches  or  allowing  her  to  wed  the  man  of  her 
choice.  But  the  grim  old  planter  only  squared 
his  jaw,  and  increased  the  rigor  of  his  oppo 
sition. 

Convinced  at  last  that  she  need  never  hope 
to  gain  his  consent,  the  unhappy  girl  yielded 
to  her  sweetheart's  pleadings  for  an  elopement. 
Under  the  pretext  of  visiting  an  aunt  at  Wick- 
ford,  she  met  him  there,  leaped  into  a  carriage 
with  him,  and  galloped  off  to  Providence, 
while  her  body-servant  looked  on  aghast,  para 
lyzed  by  the  thought  of  the  reception  awaiting 
[62] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

him  when  he  returned  to  the  Robinson  house 
without  his  mistress. 

As  they  drove  madly  along  the  Providence 
road  that  pleasant  afternoon,  the  lovers  doubt 
less  planned  the  good  old-fashioned  ending  to 
their  romance.  But  fortune  had  decreed  other 
wise.  At  news  of  the  elopement  and  subse 
quent  marriage,  which  took  place  that  same 
evening,  Rowland  Robinson  was  seized  with 
an  insane  fury,  vowed  never  to  forgive  his 
daughter,  and  threatened  Simons  with  a  fearful 
vengeance. 

Given  a  timely  warning,  the  young  couple 
went  into  hiding,  and  for  a  few  brief  months 
enjoyed  the  happiness  of  which  they  had 
dreamed.  Then,  worn  out  by  prolonged  anx 
iety  and  grief  at  her  father's  bitter  attitude, 
the  winsome  Hannah  fell  a  victim  to  the  dread 
malady  of  the  hectic  flush  and  the  racking 
cough  —  that  terrible  scourge  of  modern  civil 
ization.  Day  by  day  she  grew  weaker,  and  as 
the  disease  progressed  she  begged  pitifully 
[63] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

to  be  allowed  to  die  in  the  home  of  her  child 
hood. 

Only  when  it  was  too  late,  did  old  Rowland 
relent.  On  a  litter  borne  by  four  weeping 
slaves  she  was  carried  back  to  the  beautiful 
Narragansett  country,  to  take  a  last  fond  look 
at  its  well-remembered  scenes,  and  in  a  little 
while  to  find  repose  amid  its  verdant  fields. 

This  was  many,  many  years  ago,  but  even 
to-day  the  sturdy  farmers  and  weather-beaten 
fisherfolk,  who  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  vanished 
planters,  cherish  the  memory  of  the  "  unfortu 
nate  Hannah  Robinson."  From  generation 
to  generation  they  have  handed  her  history 
down,  as  the  precious  and  inspiring  record  of 
one  who  cheerfully  sacrificed  life  itself  for  the 
sake  of  love.1 

1  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  there  is  another  version  of  the 
story,  and  one  far  more  favorable  to  Rowland  Robinson. 
According  to  this  account,  the  latter  was  justified  in  his  op 
position  to  the  marriage,  as  Simons  was  a  worthless  scamp, 
whose  treatment  of  her  broke  his  wife's  heart.  And  her 
father,  instead  of  refusing  to  receive  her,  went  to  her  so  soon 
as  he  learned  of  her  desperate  condition,  and  brought  her 
home,  where  she  died  the  night  after  her  return. 

[641 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

Of  course,  there  were  other  phases  in  the 
history  of  the  forgotten  half-century  than  those 
which  I  have  described.  If  it  was  a  period  in 
which  the  advantages  that  go  with  wealth  be 
gan  to  make  themselves  felt,  it  was  also  a  period 
of  difficulty,  struggle,  and  hardship.  As  in  the 
time  of  the  founding,  there  was  a  constant 
pioneering  movement,  a  perpetual  advance  into 
the  wilderness.  In  this  not  only  the  English 
but  colonists  of  many  nationalities  took  part  — 
men  and  women  who,  like  the  Pilgrims  and 
Puritans  before  -them,  were  refugees  from  re 
ligious  and  political  oppression.  Huguenots 
from  France,  Palatines  from  Germany,  High 
landers  from  Scotland,  and  Scotch-Irish  by 
the  thousand,  united  to  swell  the  steadily 
rising  tide  of  immigration. 

Coming  for  precisely  the  same  object  that 
had  actuated  the  English  pioneers  of  the  seven 
teenth  century  —  to  make  permanent  homes 
for  themselves  in  the  New  World  —  the  later 
arrivals  boldly  struck  into  the  unoccupied 
[65] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

lands  of  the  interior,  planting  their  settlements 
chiefly  in  the  foot-hill  region  of  the  Alleghanies, 
then  known  as  the  "  back  country  "  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas. 
It  was  the  beginning  —  though  none  realized 
it  at  the  time  —  of  that  westward  movement 
which  was  eventually  to  carry  the  American 
people  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific;  and,  as 
in  the  case  of  each  successive  forward  step, 
it  was  attended  by  many  dangers  and  difficul 
ties. 

What  it  meant  to  the  home-seekers  them 
selves  —  the  discomforts  they  underwent,  the 
perils  imaginary  and  real  by  which  their  cour 
age  was  tried  —  is  well  exhibited  in  an  account 
written  by  Robert  Witherspoon,  who  emi 
grated  from  Ireland  with  his  father's  family 
in  1734  and  settled  in  inland  South  Carolina, 
where  some  relatives  had  preceded  them  two 
years  earlier.  After  describing  the  hardships 
of  the  trans-Atlantic  voyage,  which  was  more 
then  two  months  in  duration,  owing  to  severe 
[661 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

storms    and    the    general    unseaworthiness    of 
their  ship,  Witherspoon  relates: 

"  We  landed  in  Charleston  three  weeks  be 
fore  Christmas,  and  found  the  inhabitants 
very  kind.  We  staid  in  town  until  after  Christ 
mas,  and  were  then  put  on  board  of  an  open 
boat,  with  tools  and  a  year's  provisions.  .  .  . 
The  provisions  were  Indian  corn,  rice,  wheaten 
flour,  beef,  pork,  rum,  and  salt.  We  were  much 
distressed  in  this  part  of  our  passage.  As  it  was 
the  dead  of  winter,  we  were  exposed  to  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  day  and  night; 
and  (which  added  to  the  grief  of  all  pious 
persons  on  board)  the  atheistical  and  blas 
phemous  mouths  of  our  patroons  and  the  other 
hands.  They  brought  us  up  as  far  as  Potatoe 
Ferry  and  turned  us  on  shore,  where  we  lay 
in  Samuel  Commander's  barn  for  some  time, 
and  the  boat  wrought  her  way  up  to  the  '  King's 
Tree  '  with  the  goods  and  provisions,  which  is 
the  first  boat  that  I  believe  ever  came  up  so 
high  before. 

T671 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

*  While  we  lay  at  Mr.  Commander's  our 
men  came  up  in  order  to  get  dirt  houses 
to  take  their  families  to.  ...  What  help 
they  could  get  from  the  few  inhabitants  in 
order  to  carry  the  children  and  other  neces 
saries  up  they  availed  themselves  of.  As  the 
woods  were  full  of  water,  and  most  severe 
frosts,  it  was  very  severe  on  women  and  chil 
dren.  .  .  .  When  we  came  to  the  Bluff,  my 
mother  and  we  children  were  still  in  expecta 
tion  that  we  were  coming  to  an  agreeable 
place.  But  when  we  arrived  and  saw  nothing 
but  a  wilderness,  and  instead  of  a  fine  timbered 
house  nothing  but  a  mere  dirt  house,  our  spirits 
quite  sank;  and  what  added  to  our  trouble 
our  pilot  left  us  when  we  came  in  sight  of  the 
place. 

"  My  father  gave  us  all  the  comfort  he  could 
by  telling  us  we  could  get  all  those  trees  cut 
down,  and  in  a  short  time  there  would  be  plenty 
of  inhabitants,  so  that  we  could  see  from  house 
to  house.  While  we  were  at  this,  our  fire  we 
[68] 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

brought  from  Bog  Swamp  went  out.  Father 
had  heard  that  up  the  river  swamp  was  the 
*  King's  Tree.'  Although  there  was  no  path, 
neither  did  he  know  the  distance,  yet  he  fol 
lowed  up  the  swamp  until  he  came  to  the  branch, 
and  by  that  found  Roger  Gordon's.  We  watched 
him  as  far  as  the  trees  would  let  us  see,  and 
returned  to  our  dolorous  hut,  expecting  never 
to  see  him  or  any  human  person  more.  But 
after  some  time  he  returned  and  brought  fire. 
'*  We  were  soon  comforted,  but  evening 
coming  on  the  wolves  began  to  howl  on  all 
sides.  We  then  feared  being  devoured  by  wild 
beasts,  having  neither  gun  nor  dog  nor  any  door 
to  our  house.  Howbeit  we  set  to  and  gathered 
fuel,  and  made  a  good  fire,  and  so  passed  the 
first  night.  The  next  day  being  a  clear  warm 
morning,  we  began  to  stir  about,  but  about 
mid-day  there  rose  a  cloud  southwest  attended 
with  a  high  wind,  thunder  and  lightning.  The 
rain  quickly  penetrated  through  between  the 
poles  and  brought  down  the  sand  that  covered 
[69] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

them  over,  which  seemed  to  threaten  to  bury 
us  alive.  The  lightning  and  claps  were  very 
awful  and  lasted  a  good  space  of  time.  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  seen  a  much  severer 
gust  than  that  was.  I  believe  we  all  sincerely 
wished  ourselves  again  at  Belfast.  But  this 
fright  was  soon  over,  and  the  evening  cleared 
up,  comfortable  and  warm. 

"  The  boat  that  brought  up  the  goods 
arrived  at  the  '  King's  Tree.'  People  were 
much  oppressed  in  bringing  their  things,  as 
there  was  no  horse  there.  They  were  obliged 
to  toil  hard,  and  had  no  other  way  but  to 
convey  their  beds,  clothing,  chests,  provi 
sions,  tools,  pots,  etc.,  on  their  backs.  And 
at  that  time  there  were  few  or  no  roads, 
and  every  family  had  to  travel  the  best  way 
they  could.  .  .  .  We  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
and  hardships  in  our  settling,  but  the  few  in 
habitants  continued  still  in  health  and  strength. 
Yet  we  were  oppressed  with  fears  on  divers 
accounts,  especially  of  being  massacred  by  the 
[701 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

Indians,  or  bitten  by  snakes,  or  torn  by  wild 
beasts,  or  being  lost  and  perishing  in  the  woods. 
Of  this  last  calamity  there  were  three  in 
stances."  * 

From  the  first  this  migration  into  the  dense, 
untraveled  wastes  of  the  Alleghany  foot-hills 
bred  a  race  of  heroes  —  and  of  heroines.  Cour 
age,  self-reliance,  and  the  spirit  of  initiative 
were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  men  who 
in  those  painful  years  of  the  mid-eighteenth 
century  conquered  the  forests  and  invaded 
the  mountains.  Frenchwoman  and  German, 
Scotchwoman  and  Irish  lass,  all  played  a  won 
derful  role.  Often  they  set  brilliant  examples 
of  individual  courage  and  hardihood. 

Thus,  Christine  Zellers,  the  wife  of  a  German 
immigrant  who,  in  1745,  settled  near  Lebanon 
in  Pennsylvania,  is  credited  with  having  planned 
and  superintended  the  construction  of  a  fort, 
or  "  house  of  refuge,"  built  to  protect  the  col- 

1  C.  A.  Hanna's  "  The  Scotch-Irish  in  America,"  vol.  ii, 
pp.  26-28. 

[711 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

onists  of  the  vicinity.  She  is  also  the  heroine 
of  a  piquant  tale  of  Indian  adventure. 

One  day,  when  the  settlers  were  at  work  in 
the  fields,  the  fort  was  raided  by  a  band  of  red 
men,  who  fancied  that  it  was  unoccupied 
and  that  they  could  plunder  it  at  their  leisure. 
Mrs.  Zellers  was  quite  alone  at  the  time,  but 
instead  of  calling  for  help,  she  calmly  picked 
up  an  ax  and  awaited  the  entrance  of  the  in 
truders.  Luckily  for  her,  instead  of  attempting 
to  break  through  the  door,  which  was  stoutly 
bolted,  they  decided  to  climb  in  by  an  open 
window.  The  first  to  show  himself  was  felled 
with  a  blow  that  brought  instant  death.  A 
second  was  served  in  like  fashion,  and  so  was 
a  third.  Believing  that  the  fort  was  strongly 
garrisoned  after  all,  the  rest  now  fled  in  terror, 
leaving  the  victorious  Mrs.  Zellers  at  liberty 
to  throw  down  her  blood-stained  ax  and  return 
to  the  household  duties  which  their  coming 
had  interrupted. 

The  Indian  was,  indeed,  a  still  greater  menace 
[721 


OLD    INDIAN    FORT    NEAR    NEWMANSTOWN,    PENNSYLVANIA. 
Page  72. 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

to  the  settlers  of  the  inland  hills  and  valleys 
than  he  had  been  to  the  early  colonists  of  the 
tide- water  region.  And  for  the  reason  that,  be 
ginning  in  1689  and  continuing  more  than  sev 
enty  years,  he  was  systematically  incited  to 
attack  by  the  authorities  of  New  France,  who 
rightly  feared  that,  unless  checked,  the  people 
of  the  English  colonies  would  in  time  overflow 
into  the  fertile  Mississippi  Valley,  to  which 
the  French  laid  claim. 

Throughout  the  forgotten  half-century,  and 
even  after  the  conquest  of  Canada,  the  Ameri 
can  border  north  and  south  was  harried  by 
Indian  war-parties.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
how  many  lives  were  sacrificed  in  this  cruel 
conflict,  how  many  peaceful  settlements  blotted 
out.  But  it  is  certain  that,  for  all  his  cunning 
and  savagery,  the  red  man  was  unable  to  terror 
ize  the  people  of  the  frontier  into  abandoning 
their  foothold  in  the  wilderness. 

When  the  storm  was  most  severe,  the  colo 
nists  might,  it  is  true,  bend  before  it,  and  seek 
[731 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

refuge  among  the  more  populous  settlements 
nearer  the  sea.  But  always  they  returned  to 
rebuild  their  ruined  homes,  and  assume  once 
more  their  task  of  extending  the  limits  of  civil 
ization.  Always  they  mocked  at  the  bufferings 
of  fate,  and  faced  the  future  with  sublime  hope 
and  confidence. 

True  of  the  men,  this  was  fully  as  true  of 
the  women.  There  are  many  narratives  that 
might  be  told  to  illustrate  their  unfailing  op 
timism  under  the  most  discouraging  circum 
stances. 

As  impressive  as  any  is  the  tale  of  Mrs. 
Hannah  Dennis's  escape  from  captivity  among 
the  Ohio  Indians.1  In  its  way,  her  achievement 
was  no  less  remarkable  than  that  of  the  more 
celebrated  Mrs.  Hannah  Duston  of  early  days. 
Mrs.  Dennis  was  the  wife  of  Joseph  Dennis, 
a  settler  who  came  to  Virginia  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  built  a  home 

1  A.  S.  Withers's  "  Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare  "  (Edi 
tion  of  1831). 

[741 


LATER  COLONIAL  BELLES 

in  the  beautiful  but  at  that  time  sparsely 
settled  region  around  the  headwaters  of  the 
James  River.  Hither,  shortly  before  the  sign 
ing  of  the  treaty  which  brought  to  a  close  the 
long  war  between  the  English  colonists  and 
the  French  and  their  Indian  allies,  came  a 
band  of  Shawnees,  who  passed  with  great  ra 
pidity  from  farm  to  farm,  and  left  behind  them 
a  trail  of  blood  and  ashes. 

The  Dennis  homestead  was  among  those 
ravaged,  Mr.  Dennis  and  their  only  child 
being  slain,  and  Mrs.  Dennis  taken  prisoner 
and  forced  to  accompany  the  Indians  on  the 
hard  journey  to  their  distant  village  in  Ohio. 
From  the  first  her  mind  was  busy  plotting 
means  of  escape,  but  she  soon  realized  that 
escape  would  be  impossible  unless  she  found 
a  way  of  inducing*  the  Indians  to  relax  the 
vigilant  watch  they  kept  over  her. 

To  this  end,  she  pretended  that  she  had  lost 
all  desire  to  rejoin  her  kindred  across  the  moun 
tains.  She  learned  the  Indian  language,  dressed 
[751 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

in  Indian  garb,  and  painted  herself  like  any 
squaw.  Still  her  captors  remained  suspicious. 
She  then  resolved  to  work  on  their  superstitious 
terrors,  and  one  day  proclaimed  that  she  had 
acquired  magical  powers  and  could  heal  the 
sick.  A  few  lucky  cures,  brought  about  by  the 
use  of  simple  herbs,  worked  a  complete  change 
in  the  attitude  of  the  Indians.  They  no  longer 
kept  her  under  a  close  guard,  but  permitted  her 
to  roam  at  will,  in  search  of  the  herbs  which 
she  told  them  were  essential  for  her  "  incan 
tations." 

At  first,  fearing  that  they  might  be  secretly 
spying  on  her,  Mrs.  Dennis  was  careful  to  re 
turn  to  the  village  every  evening.  But  at 
last,  nearly  two  years  after  her  captivity  had 
begun,  she  felt  satisfied  that  she  had  completely 
lulled  suspicion,  and  that  the  time  had  come 
to  make  her  bid  for  freedom. 

One  beautiful  June  morning  she  left  the  village 
as  usual,  waving  a  gay  farewell  to  its  inhab 
itants.  Between  her  and  "  home  "  stretched 
[761 


LATER   COLONIAL   BELLES 

hundreds  of  miles  of  wilderness.  Pursuit,  she 
knew,  would  be  swift  and  certain;  and  she 
was  confronted  besides  with  the  risk  of  death 
in  many  forms.  Yet  she  did  not  for  an  instant 
lose  hope. 

With  a  cunning  born  of  long  contact  with 
the  savages,  her  first  care  was  to  "  break  "  her 
trail  as  much  as  possible;  and  for  this  purpose 
she  three  times  crossed  the  Scioto  River,  on 
which  the  Indian  village  was  located. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  when 
she  was  about  to  cross  the  river  for  the  fourth 
time,  she  heard  exultant  shouts  on  the  other 
side,  and,  looking  up,  saw  a  group  of  warriors 
awaiting  her.  As  she  turned  to  flee,  she  slipped 
on  a  stone  and  fell,  cutting  her  foot  badly; 
at  the  same  moment  the  Indians  fired,  but  not 
a  bullet  so  much  as  grazed  her.  Plunging  into 
the  undergrowth,  her  quick  eye  espied  a  huge, 
hollow  sycamore,  and  into  this  she  hastily 
crawled.  For  hours  her  pursuers  searched 
through  the  surrounding  forest,  and,  as  she 
[771 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

afterward  related,  were  often  within  touching 
distance  of  her.  Finally,  satisfied  that  she  had 
eluded  them,  they  gave  over  the  hunt  and 
started  for  the  Ohio,  thinking  to  intercept 
her  when  she  reached  its  banks. 

For  three  days  Mrs.  Dennis  remained  hidden 
in  the  sycamore,  coming  out  only  to  seek  food 
and  dress  her  wounded  foot.  Then,  already 
greatly  exhausted  but  courageous  and  hopeful 
as  ever,  she  once  more  started  on  her  flight. 
Traveling  only  at  night,  she  reached  the  Ohio 
in  safety,  and  succeeded  in  crossing  it  with  the 
aid  of  a  log  of  driftwood. 

Thereafter  she  had  comparatively  little  fear 
of  recapture  by  the  Indians,  but  she  still  had 
to  cope  with  many  perils,  of  which  starvation 
was  not  the  least,  as  she  had  been  able  to  bring 
no  supplies  with  her.  Herbs,  roots,  green 
grapes,  wild  cherries  —  such  was  the  food  on 
which  she  lived  for  almost  three  weeks,  and 
not  merely  lived  but  contrived  to  make  head 
way  in  her  long  pilgrimage.  Always,  however, 
[78] 


LATER  COLONIAL   BELLES 

her  steps  grew  more  feeble;  but  always  she 
struggled  on,  confident  that  she  would  reach 
her  journey's  end. 

And  her  confidence  was  not  misplaced. 
Dragging  herself  wearily  along,  a  pitiful  shadow 
of  the  sturdy  woman  who  had  so  bravely  set 
out  from  the  Indian  village  in  the  far-away 
Ohio  country,  she  one  morning  heard  the  wel 
come  sound  of  English  voices.  It  was  a  party 
of  settlers  who  had  gone  into  the  wilderness  to 
hunt.  Joyfully  she  called  to  them,  and  tenderly 
they  cared  for  her  when  they  heard  her  pathetic 
story.  A  little  later  and,  strengthened  and  re 
freshed,  she  was  again  among  friends  who  had 
long  mourned  her  as  dead. 

Now,  Hannah  Dennis  was  an  exceptional 
woman  only  in  so  far  as  she  proved  herself 
equal  to  an  exceptional  test.  All  over  the  coun 
try  —  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  North,  on 
the  plantations  of  the  South,  and  among  the 
rude  settlements  of  the  far-reaching  frontier  — 
were  women  who,  in  their  own  way,  were  as 
[79] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

buoyant,  determined,  and  resourceful.  These 
women,  of  every  section  and  every  walk  in 
life,  were  the  mothers  of  the  men  who  won  the 
American  Revolution.  It  is  surely  unnecessary 
to  point  out  that  the  sons  of  such  mothers 
could  not  but  be  good  fighters. 


[80] 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    WOMEN    OP    THE    REVOLUTION 

f  MHE  American  woman  of  colonial  times, 
J-  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  conspicuous 
for  many  notable  characteristics.  She  was  pre 
eminently  courageous  and  resourceful,  able 
to  depend  on  herself  and  think  for  herself. 
Whether  in  the  older  communities  along  the 
Atlantic,  or  among  the  straggling  settlements 
of  the  mountain  frontier,  she  displayed  a  won 
derful  readiness  in  adapting  herself  to  condi 
tions,  and  in  meeting  emergencies.  There  was 
no  peril  which  she  did  not  face  dauntlessly, 
no  obstacle  she  deemed  too  great  to  be  over 
come.  If  occasion  demanded,  as  was  often 
the  case,  she  did  not  shrink  from  tasks  and  dan 
gers  usually  falling  to  men.  And,  for  all  her 
hardihood  and  energy,  she  remained  essentially 
[81] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

womanly,  finding  her  chief  interest  in  her  home, 
her  husband,  and  her  children.  It  was  for 
them  she  toiled  and  sacrificed,  directing  her 
every  effort  to  the  upbuilding  and  preservation 
of  a  happy  home  life. 

All  these  traits  became  manifest  in  the  Ameri 
can  woman  at  a  very  early  date,  and  with  the 
passage  of  time  they  were  accentuated  rather 
than  diminished.  The  truth  of  this  is  strikingly 
shown  by  the  course  she  pursued  during  the 
great  struggle  which  ended  only  with  the  com 
plete  separation  of  the  colonies  from  the 
mother  country,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
free  and  independent  United  States  of  America. 

From  the  first  mutterings  of  the  approaching 
storm,  women  were  quick  to  urge  their  hus 
bands  and  sons  to  oppose  vigorously  the  slight 
est  infringement  of  what  they  held  to  be  their 
rights.  Women  were  enthusiastic  supporters 
of  the  early  measures  of  resistance  —  non-im 
portation  agreements  and  the  like  —  by  which 
it  was  hoped  to  convince  the  British  govern- 
[821 


THE  WOMEN   OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

ment  of  the  folly  of  attempting  to  impose  on 
the  colonists  laws  not  of  their  own  making 
and  contrary  to  their  desire. 

In  every  colony,  matrons  and  maids  resumed 
the  old-fashioned  industry  of  making  home 
spun  clothing,  and  banded  themselves  into 
associations  to  forego,  at  no  matter  what  per 
sonal  inconvenience,  the  use  of  imported  goods. 
"  Liberty  tea,"  brewed  of  loosestrife,  sage, 
ribwort,  strawberry,  currant,  raspberry,  or 
plantain  leaves,  became  a  popular  beverage.  No 
discomfort  was  too  great  for  the  women  of 
America  to  undergo  in  their  effort  to  help  the 
men  prove  that  England  need  not  expect  to 
do  business  with  her  colonies  so  long  as  she 
dealt  with  them  unjustly  and  oppressively. 
And  when  this  usually  powerful  argument  of 
appeal  to  the  purse  failed  —  when  England, 
instead  of  yielding  gracefully  and  meeting  the 
colonists  in  a  conciliatory  spirit,  chose  instead 
to  send  over  troops  to  dragoon  them  into  sub 
mission  —  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
[83] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

"  rebels  "  were  zealous  as  before  in  counseling 
resistance,  if  need  be  to  the  death. 

Nor  did  they  falter  when  the  gagetrf  battle 
was  actually  thrown  down  —  when  the  news 
from  Lexington,  carried  by  swift  riders  from 
colony  to  colony,  announced  that  war  had  at 
last  become  inevitable.  With  splendid  prompt 
ness  of  decision,  they  hastened  to  make  ready 
their  men  for  the  fray,  to  send  them  forth  well- 
armed,  well-clothed,  and  strengthened  by  the 
knowledge  that  they  were  leaving  at  home 
not  weeping  and  despairing  women,  but  women 
whose  greatest  hope  was  that  their  loved  ones 
would  indeed  acquit  themselves  like  men. 

Typical  of  the  prevailing  spirit  is  a  letter 
written  by  a  Philadelphia  lady  in  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  and  addressed  to  a  British 
officer  with  whom  she  was  well  acquainted. 
In  part  she  wrote  to  him: 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  done.  My  only 
brother  I  have  sent  to  the  camp  with  my 
prayers  and  blessings.  I  hope  he  will  not  dis- 
[84] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

grace  me;  I  am  confident  he  will  behave  with 
honor,  and  emulate  the  great  examples  he  has 
before  him ;  and  had  I  twenty  sons  and  brothers 
they  should  go.  I  have  retrenched  every 
superfluous  expense  in  my  table  and  family; 
tea  I  have  not  drunk  since  last  Christmas,  nor 
bought  a  new  cap  or  gown  since  your  defeat  at 
Lexington;  and,  what  I  never  did  before,  have 
learned  to  knit,  and  am  now  making  stockings 
of  American  wool  for  my  servants;  and  this 
way  do  I  throw  in  my  mite  to  the  public  good. 
"  I  know  this  —  that  as  free  I  can  die  but 
once,  but  as  a  slave  I  shall  not  be  worthy  of 
life.  I  have  the  pleasure  to  assure  you  that 
these  are  the  sentiments  of  all  my  sister  Ameri 
cans.  They  have  sacrificed  assemblies,  parties 
of  pleasure,  tea  drinking  and  finery,  to  that 
great  spirit  of  patriotism  that  actuates  all 
degrees  of  people  throughout  this  extensive 
continent.  If  these  are  the  sentiments  of 
females,  what  must  glow  in  the  breasts  of 
our  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons!  They  are 
[851 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

as  with  one  heart  determined  to  die  or  to  be 
free.  .  .  .  Heaven  seems  to  smile  on  us;  for 
in  the  memory  of  man,  never  were  known  such 
quantities  of  flax,  and  sheep  without  number. 
We  are  making  powder  fast,  and  do  not  want 
for  ammunition." 

Many  a  tale  is  told  1  of  the  Spartan  spirit 
shown  by  the  women  of  the  American  Revol 
ution.  Mary  Draper,  of  Dedham,  Massachu 
setts,  at  the  first  call  to  arms,  not  only  bade  her 
husband  hurry  to  his  country's  aid,  but  strapped 
a  knapsack  on  the  back  of  her  son,  a  lad  of  six 
teen,  and  thrust  a  gun  into  his  hands  with  the 
remark  that,  young  as  he  was,  America  needed 
him  and  he  must  go.  In  South  Carolina, 
when  Judge  Gaston's  many  sons  volunteered 
in  a  body,  Mrs.  Katherine  Steel,  who  already 
had  one  son  in  the  patriot  army,  ordered  his 
younger  brother  to  enlist,  telling  him:  "  You 
must  go  now  and  fight  the  battles  of  our  coun- 

1  Especially  in  Mrs.  E.  F.  Ellet's  "  Women  of  the  American 
Revolution,"  from  which  the  above  letter  is  quoted. 

[86] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

try  with  John.  It  must  never  be  said  that 
old  Squire  Gaston's  boys  have  done  more  for 
the  liberty  of  their  country  than  the  Widow 
Steel's."  Another  Revolutionary  mother, 
whose  name  has  faded  from  recollection,  in 
sisted  that  her  two  young  sons  volunteer,  and 
when  one  complained  that  he  had  no  rifle,  she 
grimly  assured  him  that  he  would  find  plenty 
of  spare  weapons  on  the  battle-field. 

It  is  pleasant  to  recall,  too,  the  brave  words 
spoken  by  Mrs.  Sidney  Berry,  of  New  Jersey. 
Her  home  was  for  a  time  the  headquarters  of 
Washington,  and  her  husband  was  one  of 
Washington's  officers.  One  morning  the  order 
was  issued  to  march  to  an  attack,  and  to  Mrs. 
Berry's  mortification  the  command  of  her  hus 
band's  men  had  to  be  given  to  another,  as 
Berry  was  away  from  home  on  some  private 
business.  Shortly  after  the  departure  of  the 
troops,  however,  he  came  galloping  up,  eagerly 
inquired  which  road  the  soldiers  had  taken, 
obtained  a  fresh  mount,  and  started  after  them. 
[87] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

As  he  rode  off,  Mrs.  Berry  threw  open  an 
upper  window,  leaned  out,  and  cried:  "  Sidney! 
Sidney! "  Back  he  galloped  to  receive  her 
parting  admonition:  "Remember,  Sidney, 
to  do  your  duty.  I  would  rather  hear  that  you 
were  left  a  corpse  on  the  field  than  that  you 
had  played  the  part  of  a  coward." 

Thus,  throughout  the  long  years  of  warfare, 
the  patriot  soldiery  were  spurred  to  countless 
deeds  of  valor  by  the  self-sacrificing  devotion 
of  the  heroic  and  liberty-loving  women  of 
America.  And  it  was  not  simply  moral  support 
that  they  received  from  the  women,  who  la 
bored  actively  in  many  ways  for  the  suc 
cess  of  the  American  cause,  at  times  going 
so  far  as  to  fill  the  warrior's  role  them 
selves. 

An  instance  of  this  occurred  at  the  very  be 
ginning  of  the  war.  After  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington,  when  the  minutemen  of  the  Massachu 
setts-New  Hampshire  border  had  started  for 
Boston  in  response  to  the  appeal  for  troops, 
[88] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

a  rumor  spread  that  British  regulars  were  ad 
vancing  to  destroy  the  border  towns.  Scarcely 
one  able-bodied  man  was  to  be  found  for  miles 
around,  but  the  women  of  Groton,  Pepperell, 
and  other  neighboring  places,  promptly  made 
it  evident  that  they  did  not  need  men  to  defend 
them. 

Meeting  in  convention,  exactly  as  the  men 
were  accustomed  to  do,  they  elected  a  com 
mander  —  Mrs.  David  Wright,  of  Pepperell  - 
dressed  themselves  in  suits  belonging  to  their 
absent  husbands,  seized  whatever  arms  they 
could  find,  and  marched  to  a  bridge  over  the 
Nashua  River  between  Groton  and  Pepperell, 
where  they  awaited  the  foe.  Luckily  rumor,  as 
is  so  often  the  case,  proved  false ;  no  enemy  ap 
peared,  and  the  day  ended  without  a  battle. 
But  before  dispersing  to  their  homes,  the  fair 
volunteers  had  the  satisfaction  of  capturing 
a  well-known  Tory,  who  was  carrying  des 
patches  to  the  British  authorities  at  Boston. 
His  despatches  they  forwarded  to  the  Committee 
[89] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

of  Safety,  and  himself  they  brought  in  triumph 
to  Groton  as  a  prisoner. 

This,  of  course,  was  an  impromptu  affair, 
as  was  most  of  the  fighting  done  by  women 
during  the  Revolution.  Not  even  the  case  of 
the  famous  "  Captain  Molly  "  is  exceptional 
in  this  respect.  She  was  the  wife  of  a  gunner 
in  the  patriot  army,  a  young  Irishwoman  of 
twenty-two,  sturdy,  red-haired,  and  freckled, 
but  handsome  nevertheless.  Following  the 
army  for  months,  she  gave  a  signal  display 
of  bravery  at  the  defense  of  Fort  Clinton,  when, 
her  husband  having  abandoned  his  gun  and 
joined  in  the  retreat,  she  took  his  place  and 
discharged  the  last  cannon  fired  before  the  fort 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 

Still  more  dramatic  was  her  conduct  on  the 
field  of  Monmouth.  While  carrying  a  bucket 
of  water  to  her  husband  —  in  fact,  when  al 
most  at  his  side  —  a  shot  from  the  enemy 
stretched  him  dead  at  her  feet.  With  the  cry 
of  an  enraged  tigress,  she  dropped  the  bucket, 
[901 


THE  WOMEN   OF  THE   REVOLUTION 

seized  the  rammer  from  his  stiffening  fingers, 
and  swore  to  avenge  his  death.  All  through 
the  battle  she  worked  his  cannon  desperately, 
to  the  wondering  admiration  of  her  fellow-gun 
ners,  and  the  amazement  of  every  officer  who 
chanced  to  see  her. 

There  was  at  least  one  woman,  however,  who 
regularly  enlisted  for  the  war,  served  in  the 
ranks  several  months,  was  seriously  wounded, 
and  in  the  end  was  given  an  honor  able  discharge. 
This  was  the  Massachusetts  heroine,  Deborah 
Sampson.  Just  what  motives  led  her  to  don 
man's  clothing  and  enter  the  army  will  in  all 
probability  never  be  known.  Patriotism,  we 
may  feel  sure,  was  among  them,  as  also  a  zest 
for  adventure  and  novelty;  for,  from  her  ear 
liest  youth,  she  had  shown  herself  uncommonly 
adventurous  and  daring.  Of  humble  birth, 
the  daughter  of  a  hard-working  fisherman  who 
lost  his  life  at  sea  while  she  was  still  a  little 
girl,  Deborah  was  obliged  to  earn  her  own  living 
at  a  tender  age,  and  found  employment  as  a 
[91] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

household  servant  with  a  Middleboro  family. 
Here  she  remained  until  she  was  eighteen, 
when,  having  contrived  to  pick  up  a  smattering 
of  education,  she  turned  school-teacher  for 
a  couple  of  years. 

By  this  time  the  Revolution  was  far  advanced 
and  all  the  land  was  ringing  with  war's  alarms. 
Deborah  —  always  bold,  enterprising,  and  fear 
less  —  listened  breathlessly  to  the  tales  of 
feats  at  arms  performed  by  the  sons  of  liberty; 
and  secretly  longed  to  strike  a  blow  for  her 
country  and  for  freedom's  sake.  Out  of  this 
longing  there  gradually  grew  the  resolution 
to  pose  as  a  man  and  wear  a  soldier's  uniform. 
One  or  two  preliminary  trials  in  masculine 
attire  —  including,  it  is  said,  a  night  excursion 
to  a  near-by  tavern  —  convinced  her  that  she 
would  have  little  difficulty  in  concealing  her 
sex;  and  accordingly,  late  in  May,  1782,  she 
sought  a  recruiting-officer  and  enlisted  for 
three  years  under  the  assumed  name  of  Robert 
Shurtliffe. 

[92] 


DEBORAH    SAMPSON. 

From  an  old  engraving. 

Page  92. 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

Mustered  in  at  Worcester,  she  was  soon  sent 
to  West  Point  with  some  fifty  other  fledgling 
soldiers;  and  from  West  Point,  clad  in  the 
picturesque  blue  and  white  uniform  of  the 
Fourth  Massachusetts,  she  was  immediately 
ordered  on  scouting  duty  in  the  country  around 
New  York.  None  for  a  moment  suspected  that 
the  good-looking,  lithe,  beardless  young  soldier 
was  a  woman.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  felt  that 
one  so  vigorous  and  alert  was  peculiarly  qual 
ified  for  the  hazardous  work  of  a  scout.  Thus 
it  came  about  that,  although  the  last  important 
campaign  of  the  Revolutionary  War  had  been 
fought  before  Deborah  enlisted,  she  still  found 
adventures  in  plenty. 

On  her  very  first  expedition  she  was  badly 
wounded  during  a  skirmish  near  Tarrytown 
between  her  company  and  a  contingent  of 
Delancy's  cavalry.  For  a  skirmish,  it  was 
quite  a  sanguinary  affair.  Deborah's  left-hand 
neighbor  was  shot  dead  at  the  enemy's  second 
volley,  and  she  herself  received  a  bullet  in 
[93] 


WOMAN    IN   THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

the  thigh,  besides  a  flesh-wound  in  the  head. 
Her  first  thought  was  that  discovery  of  her  sex 
could  no  longer  be  avoided;  but,  by  pretending 
that  the  flesh-wound  was  her  only  injury,  and 
personally  dressing  the  wound  in  her  thigh, 
she  managed  to  keep  her  secret  from  even  the 
hospital  surgeon. 

Dread  of  discovery,  however,  hurried  her 
back  into  the  service  long  before  the  thigh 
wound  had  properly  healed.  As  she  afterward 
declared:  "Had  the  most  hardy  soldier  been 
in  the  condition  I  was  when  I  left  the  hospital, 
he  would  have  been  excused  from  military 
duty." 

Fortunately,  soon  after  returning  to  camp 
she  obtained  permission  to  nurse  a  sick  com 
rade,  and  this  gave  her  opportunity  to  recu 
perate.  After  which  she  again  went  scout 
ing  —  or  raiding,  to  be  exact  —  and  displayed 
great  zeal  in  ferreting  out  and  capturing  loyal 
ists.  Still  later,  in  November  of  1782,  she 
took  part  in  Schuyler's  expedition  against  the 
[94] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

Indians  of  upper  New  York,  an  expedition 
which  sorely  taxed  both  her  courage  and  her 
strength. 

Then  followed  an  uneventful  winter  and 
spring;  in  the  early  summer,  a  journey  to 
Philadelphia  with  troops  sent  for  the  purpose 
of  repressing  the  mutinous  soldiers  who  threat 
ened  to  compel  Congress  at  the  bayonet's 
point  to  pay  their  arrears  of  wages;  an  attack 
of  fever  while  on  duty  in  Philadelphia,  and  the 
long-dreaded  discovery  that  Robert  Shurt- 
liffe  was  a  woman,  not  a  man. 

Happily  for  Deborah  the  discovery  was  made 
by  a  prudent,  kind-hearted  surgeon  named 
Binney,  who  instead  of  noising  abroad  the  sen 
sational  fact  confided  it  only  to  the  matron  of 
the  hospital.  Indeed,  so  soon  as  Deborah  was 
well  enough  to  be  moved  she  was  taken  to 
Doctor  Binney's  house  and  shown  every  kind 
ness  by  him,  her  secret  being  guarded  so  well 
that  ere  long  she  actually  found  herself  in 
volved  in  a  love-affair  with  a  Baltimore  girl, 
[951 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

who  had  fallen  a  victim  to  the  pseudo  Robert 
Shurtliffe's  fascinating  ways. 

This  had  the  effect  of  increasing  Deborah's 
desire  to  leave  Philadelphia  and  rejoin  her 
regiment;  but,  on  the  eve  of  her  departure, 
Doctor  Binney  gave  her  a  letter  —  addressed 
to  General  Patterson,  at  West  Point,  whither 
she  was  bound  —  containing  the  revelation 
of  her  sex.  Naturally,  her  discharge  from  the 
army  speedily  followed.  Accepting  it  philo 
sophically,  though  with  sincere  regret,  the  re 
markable  young  woman  —  she  was  still  less 
than  twenty-three  years  old  —  laid  aside  her 
handsome  uniform,  returned  to  Middleboro, 
and  settled  down  to  domestic  life,  within  a 
few  months  marrying  Benjamin  Gannett,  of 
Sharon,  where  she  made  her  home  until  her 
death  in  1827. l 

From  the  point  of  view  of  concrete  helpful 
ness  in  encouraging  and  stimulating  the  sol- 

*A  biography  of  Deborah  Sampson  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Female  Review,"  was  published  by  H.  Mann  in  1797. 

[961 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

diers  of  America,  it  need  hardly  be  pointed  out 
that  Deborah  Sampson's  bravery  counted  for 
extremely  little,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that 
at  the  time  nobody  knew  she  was  a  woman. 
Far  greater  value  attaches  to  the  courage  and 
endurance  of  a  little  group  of  officers'  wives 
who,  without  taking  up  arms,  exposed  them 
selves  to  the  horrors  of  war  for  the  sake  of 
being  near  and  being  of  aid  to  their  husbands. 

Bonnie  Catharine  Greene,  wife  of  General 
Nathanael  Greene,  was  one  of  this  number, 
sustaining  the  hardships  of  that  terrible  winter 
at  Valley  Forge  as  cheerfully  as,  at  an  earlier 
day,  she  had  turned  her  beautiful  Rhode 
Island  home  into  an  army  hospital.  Lucy 
Knox,  who  separated  from  her  loyalist  rela 
tives  to  share  the  fortunes  of  her  "  rebel " 
lover,  afterward  General  Henry  Knox,  was 
another  who  graced  army  headquarters  with 
her  genial  presence. 

So,  too,  was  Martha  Washington,  whose 
proud  boast  in  after  years  was  that  it  had  been 
[971 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

her  fortune  to  hear  the  first  gun  at  the  opening 
and  the  last  at  the  closing  of  the  most  important 
campaigns  of  the  long  war.  It  would  be  im 
possible,  in  the  space  at  my  command,  to  give 
an  adequate  account  of  the  manifold  services 
rendered  to  the  cause  of  America  by  this  noble 
wife  of  the  great  commander.  Some  idea  may 
be  gained,  however,  by  glancing  at  two  pic 
tures  of  her  life  at  headquarters,  as  drawn  by 
women  who  were  brought  into  intimate  contact 
with  her.  The  first  of  these  sketches  was  given 
to  Mrs.  Washington's  biographer,  Benson  J. 
Lossing,  by  a  Mrs.  Westlake,  a  resident  of  the 
Valley  Forge  country. 

"  I  never  in  my  life,"  Mrs.  Westlake  told 
Lossing,  "  knew  a  woman  so  busy  from  early 
morning  until  late  at  night  as  was  Lady  Wash 
ington,  providing  comforts  for  the  sick  soldiers. 
Every  day,  excepting  Sunday,  the  wives  of 
officers  in  camp,  and  sometimes  other  women, 
were  invited  to  Mr.  Potts'  —  Washington's 
Valley  Forge  headquarters  —  to  assist  her  in 
[98] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

knitting  socks,  patching  garments,  and  making 
shirts  for  the  poor  soldiers,  when  materials 
could  be  procured.  Every  fair  day  she  might 
be  seen,  with  basket  in  hand,  and  with  a 
single  attendant,  going  among  the  huts,  seek 
ing  the  keenest  and  most  needy  sufferers,  and 
giving  all  the  comforts  to  them  in  her  power. 
I  sometimes  went  with  her,  for  I  was  a  stout 
girl,  sixteen  years  old.  On  one  occasion  she 
went  to  the  hut  of  a  dying  sergeant,  whose  young 
wife  was  with  him.  His  case  seemed  to  par 
ticularly  touch  the  heart  of  the  good  lady,  and 
after  she  had  given  him  some  wholesome  food 
she  had  prepared  with  her  own  hands,  she  knelt 
down  by  his  straw  pallet  and  prayed  earnestly 
for  him  and  his  wife  with  her  sweet  and  solemn 
voice.  I  shall  never  forget  the  scene." 

No  less  impressive,  in  its  way,  is  the  viva 
cious  description  given  by  Mrs.  Troupe,  of 
Morristown,  of  a  visit  paid  to  Mrs.  Washing 
ton  when  the  latter  was  living  with  her  hus 
band  in  winter  quarters  at  the  Arnold  Tavern. 
[99] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

"  Several  of  us,"  said  Mrs.  Troupe,  in  re 
lating  her  experience  to  the  wife  of  the  Rev 
erend  Joseph  F.  Tuttle,  to  whom  the  present 
generation  owes  this  interesting  side-light  on 
Revolutionary  history,  "  several  of  us  thought 
we  would  visit  Lady  Washington,  and  as  she 
was  said  to  be  so  grand  a  lady  we  thought  we 
must  put  on  our  best  bibs  and  bands.  So  we 
dressed  ourselves  in  our  most  elegant  ruffles 
and  silks,  and  were  introduced  to  her  ladyship. 
And  don't  you  think!  We  found  her  knitting 
and  with  a  specked  apron  on  !  She  received  us 
very  graciously  and  easily,  but  after  the  com 
pliments  were  over  she  resumed  her  knitting. 
There  we  were  without  a  stitch  of  work,  and 
sitting  in  state,  but  General  Washington's 
lady  with  her  own  hands  was  knitting  stockings 
for  herself  and  husband. 

"  And  that  was  not  all.     In  the  afternoon 

her  ladyship  took  occasion  to  say,  in  a  way  that 

we  could  not  be  offended  at,  that  at  this  time 

it  was  very  important  that  American  ladies 

[100] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

should  be  patterns  of  industry  to  their  coun 
trywomen,  because  the  separation  from  the 
mother  country  will  dry  up  the  sources  whence 
many  of  our  comforts  have  been  derived.  We 
must  become  independent  by  our  determina 
tion  to  do  without  what  we  cannot  ourselves 
make.  Whilst  our  husbands  and  brothers 
are  examples  of  patriotism,  we  must  be  pat-  ^ 
terns  of  industry." 

Throughout  the  country  were  women  who 
shared  to  the  full  this  sentiment  of  Martha 
Washington's,  and  as  a  result  the  Revolution 
ary  period  was  distinctly  a  time  when  women 
toiled  at  every  imaginable  sort  of  task.  In  all 
the  colonies  were  women  who  —  like  Dorcas 
Matteson  and  Anne  Aldrich,  of  Rhode  Island 
—  thought  nothing  of  cradling  their  infants 
among  the  branches  of  a  tree,  while  they 
labored  in  the  fields,  making  hay,  harvesting 
corn,  hoeing  potatoes,  and  in  many  other  ways 
doing  the  work  of  their  absent  farmer  husbands 
who  had  answered  their  country's  call. 
[101] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

Bertha  Louise  Colburn,  who  has  made  a 
special  study  of  the  part  played  by  New  Hamp 
shire  women  in  the  Revolution,1  mentions 
particularly  the  wives  of  James  Aiken,  of  Bed 
ford;  William  Hawkins,  of  Wilton;  Charles 
Glidden,  of  Northfield,  and  George  Reid,  of 
Londonderry,  as  skilful  and  energetic  adminis 
trators  of  their  husbands'  farms  while  the 
latter  were  at  the  front.  Mrs.  Abigail  Butler, 
of  Nottingham,  managed  not  only  a  farm  but 
a  tavern  during  the  absence  of  her  husband 
and  two  sons,  all  of  whom  were  in  the  patriot 
army.  So  did  Mrs.  Abigail  Reed,  whose  hus 
band  and  two  oldest  sons  fought  at  Bunker 
Hill  and  elsewhere.  Of  another  remarkable 
New  Hampshire  wife  and  mother,  Mrs.  Peter 
Coffin,  of  Boscawen,  the  same  investigator 
reports  in  more  detail: 

"  Mrs.  Coffin  was  a  woman  of  firm  convic 
tions  and  intensely  patriotic,  so  when  the  duty 
was  laid  upon  tea  she  put  away  the  few  ounces 
1  In  The  New  England  Magazine,  February,  1912. 
[1021 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

she  had  in  her  caddy,  and  would  not  have  any 
of  it  used  until  the  tax  was  repealed. 

"  At  the  time  when  the  men  were  hurrying 
away  to  Ticonderoga,  in  July,  1777,  Mrs. 
Coffin  heard  that  two  soldiers  who  had  been 
ordered  to  march  the  next  morning  had  no 
shirts.  She  had  a  web  partially  woven  in  her 
loom.  Seizing  her  shears,  she  cut  away  what 
she  had  woven,  and  sitting  up  all  night,  cut 
and  made  the  two  shirts  ready  for  the  men  in 
the  morning. 

4  Ten  days  later  she  gave  birth  to  her  fifth 
child,  Thomas,  and  in  a  month,  at  the  news 
of  Bennington,  her  husband,  who  had  been 
out  in  the  previous  campaign,  started  once 
more,  leaving  to  her  the  care  of  the  farm.  The 
wheat  was  dead-ripe,  and  the  birds  were  de 
vouring  it,  but  how  was  it  to  be  harvested? 
Nearly  every  able-bodied  man  in  town  had 
hastened  to  Vermont  to  drive  away  the  enemy. 

( Then  Mrs.  Coffin  remembered  that  Mr. 
Enoch  Little  had  older  boys.  So  leaving  her 
[103] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

four  oldest  children  under  the  care  of  a  boy 
of  seven,  she  took  her  infant  in  her  arms, 
mounted  her  horse,  and  proceeded  towards 
the  cabin  of  Mr.  Little.  Three  sons  were  away 
in  the  army,  and  there  was  left  at  home  only 
Enoch,  a  lad  of  fourteen. 

"  '  He  can  go/  said  Mrs.  Little,  *  but  he  has 
no  clothes.' 

"  Mrs.  Coffin  looked  at  Enoch,  clad  in  worn 
tow-and-linsey  trousers  and  ragged  shirt. 

"  '  I  can  provide  him  with  a  coat,'  she  said. 

"  Taking  a  meal-bag  she  cut  in  it  three  holes, 
one  for  his  head  and  two  for  his  arms,  and  in 
the  latter  she  sewed  for  sleeves  the  legs  of  two 
of  her  own  stockings!  Then  she  went  out  into 
the  field,  and,  laying  her  infant  under  a  tree, 
bound  the  sheaves;  and  thus  the  grain  was 
harvested." 

Mary  Draper,  the  Dedham  matron  of  whom 

we  have  heard  already,  was  a  woman  of  the 

same   resourceful   type.      No   sooner   had   she 

started  her  husband  and  son  on  their  way  to 

[104] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

the  front,  than  she  summoned  her  daughter  and 
began  to  bake  loaves  by  the  score  for  the  hun 
gry  soldiers,  who  soon  were  passing  her  door 
on  their  way  to  Boston.  Again  it  was  Mary 
Draper  who,  when  Washington  appealed  to 
the  people  of  New  England  to  sacrifice  their 
lead  and  pewter  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the 
army  an  adequate  supply  of  ammunition,  not 
merely  contributed  generously  from  a  store  of 
pewter  ornaments  that  included  many  heir 
looms,  but  herself  molded  the  precious  ma 
terial  into  bullets. 

Nursing  wounded  and  invalid  soldiers,  vis 
iting  patriots  immured  in  British  prisons,  and 
providing  the  army  with  clothing  and  other 
necessaries,  formed  another  noteworthy  phase 
of  woman's  work  in  the  Revolution.  Not  a 
few  women  paid  with  their  lives  for  their  sub 
lime  devotion  to  the  demands  of  pity,  charity, 
and  patriotism. 

Andrew  Jackson's  mother  was  one  of  these, 
for  she  was  stricken  with  fever  after  a  journey 
[105] 


WOMAN    IN   THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

to  Charleston  to  carry  clothes  and  provisions 
to  friends  on  the  prison-ship  in  that  port.  Only 
a  few  months  before,  following  the  rout  and 
slaughter  of  Buford's  men  by  Tarleton's  troop 
ers,  she  had  fled  from  her  home  on  the  Waxhaw. 
Now,  in  a  ragged  tent  in  the  midst  of  the  Caro 
lina  wilderness,  she  breathed  her  last  and  was 
buried  in  an  unmarked  grave  by  the  roadside, 
leaving  to  her  little  Andrew,  the  future  hero 
of  New  Orleans  and  President  of  the  United 
States,  a  legacy  of  naught  but  bitter  and  un 
ending  hatred  for  England  and  all  things  Eng 
lish. 

Another  woman  who  laid  down  her  life  for 
America  —  a  heroine  who  literally  wore  her 
self  out  by  good  works  —  was  Esther  Reed 
of  Philadelphia.  It  was  her  distinction  to  or 
ganize  the  women  of  Philadelphia  in  their  con 
certed  and  wonderfully  successful  efforts  to 
raise  funds  for  the  relief  of  Washington's 
distressed  army  in  the  gloomy  year  1780.  As 
president  of  the  relief  association,  the  brunt  of 
[106] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

its  labors  fell  on  Mrs.  Reed,  but  she  bore  them 
cheerfully,  and  in  fact  enthusiastically.  At 
her  solicitation  contributions  poured  in  from 
many  sources  —  ranging  in  amount  from  the  few 
shillings  offered  by  a  poor  colored  woman  to 
the  hundred  guineas  in  specie  donated  by 
Lafayette,  in  behalf  of  his  wife,  in  a  character 
istically  gallant  letter.  Lafayette  wrote,  ad 
dressing  Mrs.  Reed: 

"  Madame,  in  admiring  the  new  resolution 
in  which  the  fair  ones  of  Philadelphia  have 
taken  the  lead,  I  am  induced  to  feel  for  those 
American  ladies  who,  being  out  of  the  continent, 
cannot  participate  in  this  patriotic  measure. 
I  know  of  one  who,  heartily  wishing  for  a  per 
sonal  acquaintance  with  the  ladies  of  America, 
would  feel  particularly  happy  to  be  admitted 
among  them  on  the  present  occasion.  Without 
presuming  to  break  in  upon  the  rules  of  your 
respected  association,  may  I  most  humbly 
present  myself  as  her  ambassador  to  the  con 
federated  ladies,  and  solicit  in  her  name  that 
[107] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Mrs.  President  be  pleased  to  accept  of  her  offer 
ing." 

This  letter  was  written  on  the  twenty-fifth 
of  June,  1780.  Less  than  three  months  later, 
her  frail  body  shattered  by  her  unremitting 
exertions  in  behalf  of  the  American  army, 
Esther  Reed  ended  her  earthly  career  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty -four.  All  Philadelphia  sin 
cerely  mourned  the  passing  of  her  gentle  spirit, 
patriot  and  loyalist  for  the  moment  sinking 
their  differences  and  uniting  in  a  common  senti 
ment  of  earnest  grief. 

Yet  another  way  in  which  the  women  of 
America  advanced  the  cause  of  freedom,  was 
by  conveying  timely  intelligence  of  the  enemy's 
plans  and  whereabouts  to  the  leaders  of  the 
American  army;  and,  when  occasion  offered, 
by  deceiving  the  enemy  as  to  the  movements 
of  the  patriot  forces.  Many  instances  of  such 
service  are  on  record,  but  one  or  two  illustra 
tions  must  suffice. 

As  impressive  as  any  is  the  story  of  the  Phil- 
[108] 


THE   WOMEN   OF  THE   REVOLUTION 

adelphia  Quakeress,  Lydia  Darrah.1  At  the  time 
-December,  1777  —  the  .British  under  Howe 
were  in  possession  of  Philadelphia,  and  Wash 
ington  was  encamped  with  his  army  some  fifteen 
miles  north  of  that  city  at  a  place  called  White 
Marsh.  The  Darrah  house  in  Philadelphia 
was  a  roomy,  comfortable  building,  and  was 
frequently  used  by  the  British  officers  as  a 
council-hall.  One  day,  Mrs.  Darrah  was  noti 
fied  that  a  meeting  would  be  held  that  evening, 
and  the  officer  informing  her  added  signifi 
cantly  : 

'  You  need  not  await  our  departure.  In  fact, 
be  sure  to  go  to  bed  early,  you  and  all  your 
family.  When  we  are  ready  to  leave,  I  will 
knock  at  your  door,  that  you  may  rise  and 
close  after  us." 

It  needed  nothing  more  to  convince  the  quick 
witted  Quakeress  that  business  of  special  im- 

1  First  made  public  in  The  American  Quarterly  Review, 
and  there  stated  as  given  on  the  authority  of  several  of  Lydia 
Darrah's  friends. 

[109"] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

portance  was  on  foot;  and,  being  at  heart  a 
"  rebel  "  of  the  deepest  dye,  she  resolved  to 
play  eavesdropper.  Waiting  impatiently  until 
the  secret  council  was  well  under  way,  she  left 
her  bedroom,  stole  down-stairs  in  stockinged 
feet,  and  put  her  ear  to  the  keyhole.  At  first 
she  heard  only  a  confused  murmur  of  voices. 
Then,  suddenly,  some  one  read  an  order  re 
lating  to  an  expedition  which,  in  twenty-four 
hours,  was  to  be  unexpectedly  launched  against 
the  American  camp  at  White  Marsh. 

Here,  clearly,  was  the  purpose  of  the  con 
ference  —  to  arrange  the  details  of  the  pro 
jected  surprise.  Slipping  back  to  bed,  Mrs. 
Darrah  vehemently  told  herself  that  Washing 
ton  must  be  warned.  But  how?  She  could 
trust  her  message  to  no  one.  All  night  she 
tossed  and  fretted,  but  by  morning  her  mind 
was  made  up.  Pretending  that  she  wished  to 
procure  some  flour  from  the  mill  at  Frankford, 
she  readily  obtained  a  pass  through  the  British 
lines,  and  once  outside  of  Philadelphia  made 
[HO] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

all  haste  toward  the  American  camp.  On  the 
way  she  met  one  of  Washington's  aides,  who 
knew  her  well,  and  promptly  asked  what  had 
brought  her  so  far  from  the  city. 

:f  I  have  something  to  tell  you,"  said  she, 
in  a  whisper;  *'  follow  me  closely  as  I  walk,  yet 
not  too  closely,  for  you  must  not  seem  to  be 
with  me,  as  otherwise  my  life  might  be  forfeit. 
The  British  plan  to  attack  you  to-morrow." 

And,  speaking  hurriedly,  she  told  him  all 
she  had  overheard. 

Late  that  night,  as  she  lay  in  bed,  the  sound 
of  receding  hoof-beats  came  to  her  ears,  and 
she  knew  that  the  secret  expedition  was  leav 
ing  Philadelphia.  But  she  also  knew  that  Wash 
ington  was  expecting  it,  and  that  on  the  morrow 
the  British  would  return  —  as  they  did  —  a 
thoroughly  discomfited  army.  As  the  officer 
who  had  notified  her  of  the  meeting,  afterward 
said  to  her,  in  a  tone  of  mingled  amazement 
and  wrath: 

"  I   cannot    imagine    who    carried    news    of 

run 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING   OF    AMERICA 

our  intended  attack  to  General  Washington. 
When  we  got  near  his  camp,  we  found  cannon 
mounted,  gunners  ready,  and  troops  under 
arms  —  everything  so  well  prepared  that  there 
was  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  face  about  and 
ride  back  like  a  parcel  of  fools." 

In  similar  fashion,  Mrs.  Jane  Thomas,  of 
the  South  Carolina  backwoods,  chanced  one 
day  to  hear  of  a  projected  raid  against  a  patriot 
camp  at  Cedar  Springs,  leaped  on  a  horse, 
rode  nearly  sixty  miles,  and  arrived  in  time  to 
alarm  the  "  rebels,"  who  included  several  of 
her  own  large  family  of  sons.  By  the  time  the 
loyalist  raiders  made  their  appearance  a  counter- 
surprise  was  arranged,  with  the  result  that 
although  greatly  superior  in  numbers  the  in 
vaders  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 

This  Jane  Thomas,  by  the  way,  was  a  veri 
table  Amazon.  Once,  after  her  husband  and 
some  of  his  friends  had  hastily  fled  before  an 
oncoming  party  of  loyalists,  Mrs.  Thomas  and 
her  daughters,  aided  by  a  Josiah  Culberson 
[1121 


THE  WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

who  had  refused  to  seek  safety  by  flight,  beat 
back  the  assailants  when  they  attempted  to 
take  the  Thomas  log  cabin  by  storm. 

Unquestionably,  she  was  animated  by  the 
same  spirit  which,  also  in  South  Carolina, 
found  expression  in  Isabella  Ferguson's  bold 
defiance  of  her  loyalist  brother-in-law,  Colonel 
James  Ferguson: 

'  Yes,  I  am  a  rebel!    My  brothers  are  rebels! 
And  our  dog  Trip  is  a  rebel,  too!  " 

Finally,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  not 
all  the  women  of  America  sympathized  with 
the  patriot  cause.  There  were  many  who, 
like  their  husbands  and  sons,  clung  steadfast 
in  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and 
suffered  fearfully  for  their  faithfulness.  As 
historians  are  now  beginning  to  realize,  the 
patriot  men  and  women  had  no  monopoly 
of  heroism  in  the  stirring  years  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  The  loyalists  for  their  part  —  and  the 
women  equally  with  the  men  —  proved  that, 
so  far  as  spirit,  endurance,  and  bravery  were 
[1131 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

concerned,  they,  too,  were  of  the  stuff  of  true 
Americans. 

It  was  true  Americanism  that  prompted  the 
loyalist  women  of  New  York  to  subscribe 
money  for  the  fitting  out  of  a  privateer  to  be 
called  the  Fair  American  —  a  name  which 
evoked  from  a  local  bard  these  effusive  lines: 

Assured  be  that  every  honest  man 

Will  idolize  the  Fair  American. 

Brave  loyal  tars,  with  hearts  of  oak,  will  vie, 

For  you  to  fight,  to  conquer,  live,  or  die. 

Like  true  Americans,  the  loyalist  women 
served  the  cause  to  which  they  had  given  them 
selves  with  a  zeal,  earnestness,  and  unselfish 
ness  fittingly  comparable  with  that  shown  by  the 
patriot  wives  and  daughters.  And  when  the 
end  came,  when  victory  had  definitely  crowned 
the  patriot  cause,  and  independence  was  finally 
achieved,  these  loyalist  heroines  unfalteringly 
followed  their  loved  ones  into  a  bitter  exile. 
Patriot  or  loyalist  —  the  women  of  the  Ameri 
can  Revolution  were  indeed  superb. 
[114] 


CHAPTER  IV 

HEROINES    OF    THE    WESTWARD    MOVEMENT 

IT  is  a  most  impressive  coincidence  that  the 
year  which  witnessed  the  beginning  of  the 
War  for  Independence  also  saw  the  conquest 
of  the  mountain  barrier  that  had  so  long  con 
fined  the  American  people  to  the  country  bor 
dering  on  the  sea.  In  1775  —  the  year  of 
Lexington,  Ticonderoga,  and  Bunker  Hill  - 
Daniel  Boone  and  his  daring  little  company 
of  trail-makers  blazed  the  famous  Wilderness 
Road  leading  from  the  rock-ribbed  region  of 
the  lower  Appalachians  to  the  rich  lands  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  It  was  as  though  Des 
tiny,  in  nerving  the  Americans  to  strike  for 
freedom,  had  been  careful  to  prepare  the  way 
for  their  future  growth  as  a  nation. 

Certainly,    the    opening   of   the   Wilderness 
Road  was  the  signal  for  the  commencement 
[115] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

of  a  mighty  migratory  movement.  It  began 
the  year  the  Road  was  cleared,  and  it  exercised 
a  distinct  influence  on  the  outcome  of  the  Rev 
olution;  since,  thanks  to  those  over-the-moun- 
tain  settlers  who  took  up  arms  under  the  leader 
ship  of  such  men  as  George  Rogers  Clark  and 
John  Sevier,  the  British  and  their  Indian  allies 
were  prevented  from  dealing  deadly  rear  at 
tacks  against  the  insurgent  colonies. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  westward  move 
ment  increased  so  rapidly  in  volume  that  the 
traveler,  Morris  Birkbeck,  watching  a  long 
line  of  caravans  passing  through  the  Pennsyl 
vania  forests,  could  wittily  declare  that  "  Old 
America  seems  to  be  breaking  up  and  moving 
westward."  The  significant  fact  was  that  the 
passage  of  the  mountains  was  not  a  retreat 
but  an  advance,  an  unconscious  serving  of 
notice  that  the  nation  had  outgrown  its  earlier 
limits  and  had  begun  its  forward  march  to 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

Nor,  especially  in  the  first  years  of  the  move- 
[116] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

ment,  could  anything  testify  more  forcibly 
to  the  courage,  hardihood,  and  virility  of  the 
men  and  women  of  America.  If  the  people 
of  the  coast  and  of  the  foot-hills  were  menaced 
by  the  British  redcoat  and  the  Hessian  hire 
ling,  those  who  turned  their  faces  toward  the 
West  and  plunged  into  the  ocean  of  forest  and 
mountain  were  confronted  by  far  more  for 
midable  dangers.  Death  in  an  agonizing 
form  at  the  hands  of  the  savage  Indian,  at 
the  fangs  of  some  wild  beast,  from  exhaustion 
or  from  starvation,  was  a  constant  peril. 

And  this  no  matter  what  road  they  took, 
whether  the  long,  tortuous  Wilderness  Road 
from  the  Watauga  settlements  of  North  Caro 
lina  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  where  Louisville 
stands  to-day,  or  the  easier  but  more  dangerous 
Ohio  River  route  from  Fort  Pitt  in  western 
Pennsylvania.  When  their  journey's  end  was 
reached,  danger  still  overshadowed  them.  They 
had  to  be  ceaselessly  on  guard  against  the  cruel, 
copper-colored  foe;  had  to  build  forts,  block- 
[117] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

houses,  houses  of  refuge;  had,  often,  to  trust 
to  the  bounty  of  nature  to  supply  them  with 
food,  cut  off  as  they  were  from  the  well-devel 
oped  East  by  hundreds  of  miles  of  wilderness. 
Yet  in  they  came  —  at  first  by  little  companies, 
but  soon  by  hundreds  and  thousands. 

History,  in  fact,  was  repeating  itself  in  this 
great  movement  across  the  mountains,  with 
the  single  but  important  difference  that  the 
new  generation  of  emigrants,  unlike  those  who 
had  flocked  from  Europe  to  America  in  the 
time  of  the  founding,  were  not  fugitives  from 
oppression.  Like  their  predecessors,  however, 
they  were  essentially  home-seekers,  a  circum 
stance  which  more  than  any  other  has  had  a 
determining  influence  on  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  They  were  in  quest  not  of  gold 
or  of  adventure,  but  of  land  which  they  might 
call  their  own,  untilled  wastes  which  they  could 
convert  into  profitable  pastures  and  grain- 
fields.  This  was  their  ideal  —  to  make  a  home 
and  to  own  it.  And,  as  they  well  knew,  it  was 
[118] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

an  ideal  that  could  not  be  fully  realized  with 
out  the  loving  assistance  of  their  wives,  who 
gladly  volunteered  to  face  the  perils  of  the 
unknown  wilds  by  the  side  of  those  they 
loved,  and  were  indeed  women  worthy  of 
remembrance  as  makers  and  winners  of  the 
West. 

Many  pressed  forward  even  after  they  had 
learned  by  some  tragic  experience  the  immen 
sity  and  danger  of  their  undertaking.  It  was 
thus,  for  example,  with  the  Boones,  perhaps 
the  most  celebrated  of  all  pioneer  families. 
Daniel  Boone,  the  head  of  the  family,  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  but  emigrated  at  an 
early  age  to  the  fertile  Yadkin  Valley  in  north 
western  North  Carolina.  There  he  met,  wooed, 
and  married  Rebecca  Bryan,  a  bonnie,  black- 
eyed  Scotch-Irish  lassie  of  seventeen. 

For  some  years  they  lived  quietly  on  the 
Yadkin,  but  in  1769,  fired  by  the  tales  of  a  wan 
dering  fur-trader,  Boone  organized  an  exploring 
expedition  to  visit  Kentucky,  at  that  time  a 
[1191 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

no-man's  land,  without  a  single  white  inhab 
itant  and  used  by  the  Indians  merely  as  a 
hunting-ground.  What  he  saw  so  delighted 
him  that  he  resolved  to  make  Kentucky  his 
home,  and  on  returning  East  induced  a  number 
of  his  neighbors  to  remove  thither  with  him. 
September  25,  1773,  the  start  was  made,  the 
emigrants  forming  a  picturesque  cavalcade  as, 
mounted  on  horses  and  driving  a  herd  of  cattle 
before  them,  they  waved  a  last  farewell  to  their 
Yadkin  Valley  friends  and  wound  their  way  up 
a  steep  mountain  trail. 

Travel  by  wagon  was  impossible,  for  the 
route  lay  mainly  by  Indian  paths  and  buffalo 
traces  through  a  mountainous  and  heavily 
wooded  country.  Nor,  for  the  same  reason, 
could  they  take  with  them  anything  except  the 
barest  necessaries  —  simple  household  goods, 
farm  implements,  and  the  like.  All  of  these 
were  transported  on  the  backs  of  pack-horses, 
where  the  children  too  small  to  sit  a  saddle  but 
too  big  to  be  carried  in  their  mothers'  arms, 
[120] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

were  also  stowed  away,  securely  strapped  among 
bedding,  pots,  and  pans.  At  night  the  entire 
company  slept  around  a  camp-fire  under  the 
open  sky.  It  was  primitive  traveling,  by  a 
primitive  but  great  people. 

The  first  feeling  of  depression  at  leaving 
their  old  homes  soon  wore  away,  and  by  the 
time  Powell's  Valley  was  reached,  and  they 
approached  Cumberland  Gap,  the  broad  gate 
way  to  the  West,  all  were  in  the  highest  spirits, 
eagerly  anticipating  their  arrival  in  Kentucky, 
which  Boone  had  pictured  as  an  earthly  para 
dise. 

But  it  chanced  that,  all  unknown  to  them, 
an  Indian  war-party  was  passing  through 
Powell's  Valley,  fresh  from  a  raid  against  the 
villages  of  some  hostile  tribe.  Sighting  some 
of  the  emigrants,  who  had  temporarily  sepa 
rated  from  the  main  body,  and  seeing  in  them 
not  peaceful  travelers  but  their  hereditary 
foes,  the  inevitable  happened.  Boone's  oldest 
son,  a  bright,  sturdy  youth  of  seventeen,  fell 
[121] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

at  the  first  fire,  and  several  other  men  were 
killed. 

Here  was  a  speedy  and  fatal  intimation  of 
the  many  similar  tragedies  to  be  enacted  in 
later  times  along  the  blood-won  road  to  Ken 
tucky.  Boone  himself,  notwithstanding  the 
death  of  his  son,  wished  to  proceed,  and  his 
faithful  wife,  drying  her  tears  like  the  mothers 
of  ancient  Sparta,  announced  her  readiness 
to  accompany  him.  But  in  spite  of  entreaties 
the  others  turned  back,  leaving  the  Boones, 
who  took  up  their  residence  in  a  deserted  cabin, 
to  await  another  opportunity  of  recruiting 
volunteers  for  the  opening  up  of  the  Western 
lands. 

More  than  a  year  passed  before  the  chance 
came.  Then  Boone  was  engaged  to  serve  as 
pilot  and  road-maker  for  a  company  of  wealthy 
Carolinians  who  had  undertaken  to  colonize 
Kentucky.  Setting  out  at  the  head  of  a  care 
fully  chosen  party  of  thirty  expert  backwoods 
men,  he  traveled  for  nearly  a  month,  painfully 
[122] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

hewing  out  the  historic  Wilderness  Road  l 
over  which  so  many  thousands  of  sturdy  pio 
neers  were  to  adventure  within  the  next  few 
years. 

Onward  Boone's  men  marched  and  chopped 
and  fought  —  for  the  Indians  were  eager  to 
shut  up  the  path  —  until,  on  April  1,  1775, 
they  reached  the  Kentucky  River.  There, 
in  the  heart  of  the  Blue  Grass  region,  they  built 
a  settlement  which  they  fittingly  named  Boones- 
borough;  and  thither,  so  soon  as  he  had  cleared 
a  patch  of  land,  sown  some  corn,  and  built  a 
cabin,  Boone  brought  his  wife  and  their  seven 
boys  and  girls. 

"  My  wife  and  daughters,"  as  he  was  proud 
to  recall  in  his  old  age,  "  were  the  first  white 
women  to  set  foot  on  the  banks  of  Kentucky." 

But  he  had  brought  them  to  a  hard  and  peril- 

1  A  detailed  account  of  the  opening  up  of  this  first  great 
highway  to  the  West  will  be  found  in  the  present  writer's 
"  Daniel  Boone  and  the  Wilderness  Road,"  a  book  intended 
to  serve  the  dual  purpose  of  a  biography  of  Boone  and  a  his 
tory  of  early  Western  settlement. 

[123] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

ous  life.  The  killing  of  their  son  had  been  a 
warning  of  what  might  be  expected  in  Kentucky; 
the  narrow  escape  of  fourteen-year-old  Jemima 
Boone  from  Indian  captivity,  showed  still 
more  plainly  the  vital  need  for  constant  watch 
fulness.  Indeed,  it  was  the  first  notification 
received  by  the  settlers  of  Boonesborough, 
which  had  grown  rapidly,  that  they  were 
threatened  by  a  disastrous  Indian  war. 

One  summer  afternoon  in  1776,  Jemima 
Boone  and  two  sisters  named  Callaway,  while 
boating  on  the  Kentucky,  allowed  their  canoe  to 
drift  close  to  the  opposite  bank.  Here,  behind 
a  bush,  five  Shawnee  warriors  were  in  hiding, 
and  although  the  spot  was  not  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  Boonesborough,  one 
of  the  Shawnees  struck  boldly  out  into  the 
water,  seized  the  canoe,  and  dragged  it  to  shore 
with  its  screaming  occupants. 

Once  in  the  power  of  the  Indians,  however, 
these  youthful  daughters  of  the  wilderness 
betrayed  a  wonderful  self-possession  and  re- 
[124] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

sour  cef  ulness.  They  knew  enough  of  In 
dian  customs  to  realize  that  if  their  strength 
failed  them,  and  they  should  prove  unequal 
to  the  long  march  to  the  Shawnee  towns  on  the 
Ohio,  they  would  be  slaughtered  mercilessly. 
So  they  stifled  their  sobs,  and  calmly  accom 
panied  their  captors  without  protest  or  struggle. 
At  every  opportunity,  though,  they  secretly 
tore  little  pieces  from  their  clothing  and  attached 
them  to  bushes  on  the  trail.  Nothing  more 
was  needed  to  inform  Boone  and  his  fellow 
settlers,  who  had  quickly  started  in  pursuit, 
that  they  were  on  the  right  track,  and  on  the 
second  day  of  the  captivity  they  caught  up 
with  the  Indians.  A  volley  laid  two  Shawnees 
low,  the  rest  fled,  and  by  the  close  of  another 
day  the  girls  were  safe  in  the  arms  of  their 
thankful  mothers. 

This  was  but  the  beginning  of  unnumbered 

woes  for  the  people  of  Boonesborough,  Harrods- 

burg,  and  the  other  hamlets  and  forts  which 

by  this  time  dotted  central  Kentucky.    Indian 

[125] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

skirmishes,  raids,  battles,  and  sieges  became 
part  of  the  daily  routine  of  life,  and  great  were 
the  losses  inflicted  by  the  red  men,  roused  to 
fury  by  the  invasion  of  their  ancestral  hunting- 
grounds  and,  at  all  events  during  the  Revolu 
tion,  incited  against  the  settlers  by  the  British 
authorities  at  Detroit. 

But  the  storm  of  their  hostility  did  not  blot 
out  the  pioneers  and  their  habitations.  Meet 
ing  the  foe  unflinchingly,  both  men  and  women 
rose  at  times  to  sublime  heights  of  heroism 
and  devotion.  There  was  many  a  woman  who, 
like  Rebecca  Boone,  learned  to  do  and  dare 
as  much  as,  and  sometimes  more  than,  a  man 
would  in  the  face  of  dire  need  and  impending 
catastrophe.  For  these  mothers  of  the  frontier 
were  not  easily  daunted.  Rather,  the  harder 
pressed  they  were,  the  more  conspicuously  they 
rose  to  the  occasion. 

This  was  demonstrated  time  and  again  in 
the  seven  years  of  almost  perpetual  warfare 
waged  between  the  Western  settlers  and  the 
[126] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

Indians  during  the  Revolution.  One  of  its  most 
striking  instances  was  the  heroism  shown  by 
Elizabeth  Zane  l  at  the  time  of  the  second 
siege  of  Wheeling,  to-day  the  chief  city  of 
West  Virginia. 

The  Zanes  were  among  its  founders,  Eben- 
ezer  Zane,  Elizabeth's  brother,  having  been  the 
first  pioneer  to  build  a  cabin  at  the  spot  where 
Wheeling  Creek  empties  its  waters  into  the 
Ohio.  Five  years  later,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  some  twenty-five  fam 
ilies  were  living  there  protected  by  Fort  Henry, 
a  stockaded  structure  located  on  a  hill  overlook 
ing  the  settlers'  cabins  and  corn-fields.  It  had 
no  armament  other  than  a  single  cannon,  a 
relic  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  but  with 
its  stout  palisades,  its  overhanging  block-houses, 
and  its  many  port-holes  manned  by  unerring 

1  There  are  several  versions  of  this  heroic  exploit.  I 
have  followed  that  most  generally  accepted,  and  found  in 
Wills  De  Hass's  "History  of  the  Early  Settlement  and 
Indian  Wars  of  Western  Virginia,"  published  at  Wheeling 
in  1851. 

[1271 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

marksmen,  it  was  quite  strong  enough  to  with 
stand  Indian  raiders,  and  it  proved  its  worth 
in  1777,  when  four  hundred  redskins  laid  siege 
to  it  in  vain. 

Thereafter  the  people  of  Wheeling,  unlike 
the  people  of  the  Kentucky  settlements  farther 
south,  were  comparatively  free  from  Indian 
alarms  until  near  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 
But  early  in  September,  1782,  a  mixed  force 
of  Shawnees,  Delawares,  and  soldiers  from  the 
British  post  at  Detroit,  nearly  three  hundred 
men  in  all,  under  the  command  of  a  Captain 
Andrew  Pratt,  made  a  sudden  descent  upon  the 
fort.  Luckily  for  the  settlers,  half  an  hour 
earlier  scouts  had  brought  word  of  the  enemy's 
approach,  and  this  gave  time  for  all  to  seek 
shelter  behind  the  stockade. 

For  some  reason  Ebenezer  Zane  and  his 
family  did  not  accompany  the  rest.  The  tradi 
tion  is  that  Zane's  house  had  been  burned  by 
the  Indians  at  the  siege  of  1777,  and  that  this 
so  exasperated  the  impetuous  woodsman  that 
[128] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

he  vowed  he  would  never  again  abandon  his 
dwelling-place  to  the  torch.  It  was  a  thick- 
walled,  substantial  building,  a  miniature  cita 
del  in  itself,  and  was  moreover  well  within 
range  of  the  fort's  cannon,  a  circumstance  which 
aided  greatly  in  its  defense. 

But  it  had  a  pitifully  small  garrison,  including 
only  Ebenezer  Zane,  his  brother  Silas,  two  bor 
derers  named  Green,  and  a  negro  slave,  together 
with  three  women,  Mrs.  Ebenezer  Zane,  Eliz 
abeth  Zane,  and  a  Molly  Scott.  All,  men  and 
women  alike,  prepared  for  a  desperate  struggle. 
Before  making  any  attack,  however,  the  inva 
ders  marched  through  the  corn-fields  about 
the  deserted  cabins,  and  into  an  open  space 
at  the  foot  of  the  fort  hill.  A  halt  was  ordered 
and  the  commanding  officer  demanded  the 
surrender  of  the  fort,  promising,  rather  ambig 
uously,  "  the  best  protection  King  George 
could  afford." 

The  sinister  hint  of  possible  inability  to 
restrain  his  savage  followers  from  an  indis- 
fl291 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

criminate  massacre,  even  if  the  settlers  should 
surrender,  was  not  lost  on  them;  and  in  any 
event  they  had  no  intention  of  yielding.  With 
mocking  cries  and  jeers  they  bade  Pratt  do 
his  worst,  emphasizing  their  remarks  by  an  oc 
casional  rifle-shot.  A  second  summons  to 
surrender  met  with  a  similar  response,  and  just 
before  sundown  an  attack  in  force  was  ordered. 
The  Indians  had  not  failed  to  note  the  soli 
tary  cannon  mounted  on  a  platform  which 
overtopped  the  stockade,  but  they  imagined 
it  was  simply  a  "  Quaker  cannon  "  -  that  is 
to  say,  a  log  fashioned  and  painted  in  the  like 
ness  of  a  cannon.  So,  without  giving  it  a  mo 
ment's  thought,  they  advanced  in  a  compact 
body.  Finger  on  trigger,  the  garrison  patiently 
waited  until  certain  that  every  shot  would 
count.  Then,  from  the  line  of  port-holes, 
tongues  of  fire  burst  forth,  while  at  the  same 
instant  the  dull  boom  of  the  cannon  resounded 
overhead,  venting  a  ball  that  plowed  through 
the  crowded  ranks. 

[130] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

"  Stand  back!  "  cried  Captain  Pratt.  "  Stand 
back!  There's  no  wood  about  that!  " 

To  quicken  the  retreat  came  an  angry  buzzing 
from  Ebenezer  Zane's  house,  a  hornetlike  sing 
ing  of  bullets,  every  one  of  which  found  its 
billet  in  some  red  man's  breast. 

Baffled,  but  not  beaten,  the  attacking  army 
fled  to  cover,  whence,  in  small  parties,  they 
presently  emerged  to  renew,  not  once  but  many 
times,  the  attempt  to  storm  the  fort.  Always 
they  were  driven  off,  with  heavy  loss.  Nor 
did  they  fare  better  when  they  tried  to  silence 
the  incessant  rifle-fire  from  the  Zane  house, 
where  the  women  with  tireless  dexterity  loaded 
the  rifles  almost  as  fast  as  the  men  could  dis 
charge  them.  Thus  the  night  passed,  without 
rest  to  besieged  or  besiegers,  and  not  until 
noon  of  the  next  day  did  the  enemy  cease  firing 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  brief  sleep. 

It  was  then  that  Elizabeth  Zane  performed 
the  feat  which  won  for  her  imperishable  renown 
in  the  annals  of  the  border.  So  continuous 
[1311 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

had  been  the  battle  that  the  supply  of  ammu 
nition  in  her  brother's  house  had  become  almost 
exhausted.  The  only  source  of  a  fresh  supply 
was  the  magazine  in  the  fort,  and  there  was 
not  an  inch  of  sheltered  ground  between  the 
Zane  house  and  the  hill  on  which  the  fort 
stood.  It  seemed  madness  to  attempt  the 
journey,  but  one  of  the  Greens  promptly  vol 
unteered.  Then  Elizabeth  Zane  spoke  up. 

"  No,"  said  she,  "  none  of  you  men  shall  go. 
I  will.  I  am  only  a  woman,  and  should  I  be 
killed,  I  can  better  be  spared  than  any  of  you." 

Her  brother  and  the  rest  sought  vainly  to 
dissuade  her.  Every  cabin,  as  they  pointed 
out,  was  now  filled  with  Indians,  who  would 
almost  certainly  kill  or  capture  her.  But  her 
mind  was  made  up.  Throwing  open  the  door, 
she  ran  at  utmost  speed  to  the  stockade-gate, 
while  the  Indians,  as  though  stupefied  by  her 
audacity,  stood  watching  her  in  silent  wonder. 

Friendly  hands  grasped  her,  drew  her  into 
the  fort-yard,  and  shut  fast  the  gate. 
[132] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

"  Powder,"  she  whispered,  to  the  amazed 
men  and  women  who  crowded  about  her, 
"  give  me  powder,  all  I  can  carry  in  my  apron." 

Ten  minutes  more  and  the  brave  young 
woman  was  again  in  the  open,  darting  toward 
the  house.  Now  the  bullets  began  to  fly  after 
her,  while  the  men  at  the  port-holes  blazed 
angrily  back,  seeking  to  cover  her  return. 
Nearer  she  came,  steadily  nearer,  and  still  un 
harmed.  A  moment  more  and  she  would  be 
safe.  Ebenezer  Zane,  working  his  rifle  with 
desperate  intensity,  shouted  words  of  loving 
encouragement . 

Again  the  bullets  sang  past  her  head.  Not 
once  faltering,  Elizabeth  Zane  fled  on,  reached 
the  house,  and  fell  forward,  breathless  but  un 
hurt,  into  her  brother's  arms.  It  is  good  to 
be  able  to  add  that  the  powder  secured  at  such 
hazard  enabled  the  Zanes  to  hold  out  until 
relieved  of  all  danger  by  the  hasty  retreat  of 
the  enemy  at  news  that  a  powerful  expedition 
was  advancing  against  them. 
[1331 


WOMAN   IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

But  it  was  in  Kentucky  —  and  particularly 
against  the  cluster  of  settlements  in  the  Blue 
Grass  region,  connected  with  the  farthermost 
settlements  of  the  East  only  by  the  thin,  two- 
hundred-mile  thread  of  the  Wilderness  Road  - 
that  the  Indians  delivered  their  deadliest 
blows.  Even  after  the  Revolution  it  was  years 
before  Kentucky  —  veritably  a  dark  and  bloody 
ground  —  became  entirely  free  from  the  danger 
of  Indian  raids.  Every  little  fort  and  station 
had  its  history  of  battle  and  siege,  its  death- 
roll  of  slaughtered  victims.  Nevertheless, 
the  settlers  manfully  held  their  ground,  led 
by  such  famous  Indian  fighters  as  Daniel 
Boone,  George  Rogers  Clark,  Benjamin  Logan, 
and  Simon  Kenton. 

^here  were  Indian  fighters,  too,  among  the 
women,  though  comparatively  few  of  their  ex 
ploits  have  come  down  to  us.1  A  raid  on  Innis' 

1  The  stories  that  immediately  follow  are  based  on  accounts 
found  in  two  old  works,  Lewis  Collins*  *'  History  of  Ken 
tucky,"  and  John  A.  McClung's  "  Sketches  of  Western  Ad 
venture." 

[134] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

settlement,  three  or  four  miles  from  Frankfort, 
was  rendered  memorable  by  the  bravery  of 
the  wives  of  Jesse  and  Hosea  Cook,  two  brothers 
who  had  imprudently  built  their  cabin  homes 
at  an  isolated  spot.  Surprised  by  Indians 
while  shearing  sheep,  Jesse  Cook  was  shot  dead, 
and  Hosea  mortally  wounded.  But  he  man 
aged  to  stagger  to  the  cabin  where  his  wife  and 
sister-in-law  then  were  with  their  infant  chil 
dren,  and  with  his  last  breath  called  to  them 
to  secure  the  door. 

Ordinary  women  thus  bereft  would  have  been 
incapable  of  action,  but  the  Cooks  were  ex 
traordinary  women.  While  Mrs.  Hosea  vainly 
sought  to  revive  her  husband,  who  had  fallen 
just  inside  the  entrance.  Mrs.  Jesse  barred  the 
door,  which  fortunately  was  unusually  strong. 
Outside,  the  Indians  hammered  upon  it,  in 
sistently  demanding  admittance. 

Picking  up  a  rifle,  Mrs.  Jesse  Cook  loaded 
it,  peered  through  a  chink  in  the  wall,  and 
sighting  an  Indian  seated  on  a  near-by  log, 
[135] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

took  careful  aim  and  fired.  The  Indian  leaped 
into  the  air  with  a  horrible  yell  and  fell  dead, 
while  his  companions,  threatening  a  fearful 
vengeance,  climbed  nimbly  upon  the  cabin 
roof  and  set  fire  to  it.  Calling  to  her  sister-in- 
law  to  hand  her  a  bucket  of  water,  Mrs.  Jesse 
rushed  up  the  ladder  leading  to  the  cabin  attic, 
and  put  out  the  flames.  Again  the  Indians 
kindled  a  blaze,  and  again  she  extinguished  it. 
And  so  for  a  third  time. 

More  than  once  the  Indians  sent  bullets 
through  the  cabin  walls,  but  without  doing  any 
injury.  Finally,  afraid  that  if  they  lingered 
longer  they  might  be  surrounded  by  a  strong 
force  of  settlers,  they  descended  from  the  roof 
and  vanished  into  the  forest,  leaving  the  heroic 
women  to  bury  their  dead  husbands. 

Mrs.  John  Merrill,  of  Nelson  County,  was 
another  Kentucky  woman  who  met  and  over 
came  the  Indian  foe,  by  her  unaided  strength 
and  quick  wit  defeating  no  fewer  than  six  red 
men,  if  tradition  speaks  the  truth.  One  night, 
[136] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

when  she  and  her  husband  were  alone  in  their 
cabin,  they  were  awakened  by  a  loud  barking 
of  their  dog,  and  upon  opening  the  door  Mr. 
Merrill  received  the  fire  of  half  a  dozen  Indians 
who  were  in  hiding  outside.  Badly,  though 
not  fatally  wounded,  he  fell  to  the  floor,  while 
his  wife  sprang  out  of  bed  and  closed  the  door 
just  in  time  to  shut  out  the  whooping  savages. 
She  knew  that  it  would  take  them  only  a 
few  minutes  to  cut  an  entrance,  ^and  seizing 
an  ax  she  made  ready  for  a  defense  to  the  death. 
As  the  first  Indian  forced  his  way  in  through 
the  narrow  opening  made  by  their  tomahawks, 
she  swung  her  ax  with  Amazonian  strength, 
and  down  the  Indian  tumbled,  dead  at  the 
instant.  Two  others  she  similarly  killed.  The 
rest  then  tried  to  enter  by  way  of  the  chimney, 
but  Mrs.  Merrill  proved  herself  no  less  resource 
ful  than  courageous.  Ripping  open  a  feather 
bed  she  set  fire  to  the  feathers,  making  a  furious 
blaze  and  dense  smoke  which  brought  down  two 
Indians  gasping  for  breath. 
[137] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

With  a  couple  of  powerful  blows  she  des 
patched  them,  and  turned  in  time  to  meet  the 
single  surviving  Indian,  who  had  crept  in  un 
noticed  through  the  break  in  the  door.  Leaping 
at  him  with  the  fury  of  a  wildcat,  she  swung 
her  ax  once  more,  laid  open  his  cheek  to  the 
bone,  and  sent  him  out  into  the  night  shrieking 
dismally.  Some  months  afterward  a  returned 
prisoner  from  the  Shawnee  towns  brought 
word  that  the  wounded  Indian  had  spread 
far  and  wide  marvelous  tales  of  the  prowess 
and  ferocity  of  John  Merrill's  "  long-knife 
squaw." 

Even  little  girls  became  imbued  with  phenom 
enal  bravery  and  strength  in  those  grim  years 
of  warfare.  One  morning  a  Lincoln  County 
pioneer  named  Woods,  who  had  settled  on  a 
lonely  heath,  paid  a  visit  to  the  nearest  station, 
leaving  at  home  a  family  consisting  of  his  wife, 
his  daughter,  scarcely  in  her  teens,  and  a 
crippled  negro  servant. 

No  Indian  "  signs  "  had  been  seen  for  some 
[138] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

time,  and  Mr.  Woods  felt  that  all  would  be  well 
during  his  absence.  But  toward  noon  his  wife, 
while  working  in  an  outbuilding,  saw  several 
Indians  running  toward  the  house.  Screaming 
loudly  to  give  the  alarm  she  sought  to  reach 
the  house  before  them,  but  could  not  run  fast 
enough  to  enter  and  close  the  door  before  the 
arrival  of  the  nearest  Indian. 

As  soon  as  he  came  in,  the  crippled  negro 
heroically  grappled  with  him,  and  together 
they  rolled  about  the  floor,  the  negro  holding 
the  Indian  so  tightly  that  he  could  do  no  damage. 
But  neither  could  the  negro  free  a  hand  to  kill 
him.  Mrs.  Woods,  meanwhile,  was  exerting 
all  her  strength  to  keep  the  door  closed  against 
the  other  Indians.  Seeing  that  she  could  not 
possibly  come  to  his  aid,  the  negro  called  to 
her  young  daughter: 

"  Get  that  sharp  ax  under  the  bed  and  chop 
this  man's  head  off." 

Trembling  with  nervousness,  but  pure  grit 
in  every  ounce  of  her  little  body,  the  girl  picked 
U391 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

up  the  ax,  while  the  Indian,  in  a  panic,  strove 
madly  to  shake  off  his  black  antagonist.  The 
first  blow  of  the  ax  missed  him  completely, 
but  the  little  girl  struck  again,  and  this  time 
inflicted  so  severe  a  wound  that  the  negro  was 
able  to  rise  and  make  an  end  of  the  Indian. 
At  the  same  moment  the  sound  of  firing  was 
heard  outdoors.  A  party  of  white  hunters 
had  heard  the  tumult  and  had  galloped  to  the 
rescue. 

By  all  odds  the  most  notable  display  of 
female  heroism  during  the  Indian  wars  in 
Kentucky,  however,  was  made  in  connection 
with  the  siege  of  Bryan's  Station  in  1782.  This 
stockaded  settlement  had  been  founded  three 
years  previously  by  four  brothers  of  that  name 
from  North  Carolina,  and  stood  on  the  North 
Fork  of  the  Elkhorn,  a  few  miles  from  Lexing 
ton.  In  1780  the  original  settlers  had  abandoned 
it,  following  Indian  raids  on  neighboring 
stations,  and  the  killing  of  the  oldest  Bryan 
brother;  but  it  was  soon  re-occupied,  this  time 
[1401 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT 

by  immigrants  from  Virginia,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  siege  it  contained  twelve  families,  be 
sides  twenty-five  or  thirty  men  —  scouts,  hunt 
ers,  and  surveyors  —  who  were  temporarily 
making  it  their  headquarters. 

Until  midsummer  of  1782  it  had  almost 
entirely  escaped  attack,  and  its  occupants 
were  beginning  to  feel  that  the  Indians,  who 
had  been  comparatively  quiet  since  an  invasion 
of  their  country  by  George  Rogers  Clark  two 
years  before,  would  no  longer  menace  the  pros 
perity  of  that  part  of  Kentucky.  But,  at 
sunset  of  August  15,  a  messenger  arrived  with 
news  that  a  large  force  of  Wyandots  and  Shaw- 
nees  had  surprised  and  defeated  a  party  of 
settlers  from  another  station,  and  that  every 
available  man  was  expected  to  turn  out  the 
next  day  to  hunt  for,  and  give  battle  to,  the 
savages. 

No  one  dreamed  that  the  real  object  of  the 
Indians  in  thus  entering  once  more  the  Blue 
Grass  region  was  to  conquer  and  destroy  Bry- 
[1411 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

an's  Station  itself,  at  that  time  the  largest  and 
one  of  the  most  strongly  fortified  stations  in 
Kentucky.  In  blissful  ignorance  of  the  fate 
threatening  them,  the  garrison  began  to  make 
preparations  for  an  early  departure.  In  the 
overhanging,  port-holed  block-houses,  which 
stood  like  many-eyed  sentinels  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  stockade,  men  took  down  their 
rifles  from  the  racks  on  the  walls,  filled  bullet 
pouches  and  powder-horns,  and  vigorously 
sharpened  their  hunting-knives.  In  the  inter 
vening  cabins,  by  the  light  of  buffalo-tallow 
candles,  bare-armed  women  molded  bullets, 
prepared  food,  and  mended  clothing.  Thus 
every  one  toiled,  far  into  the  hot  summer  night; 
and  meantime,  approaching  ever  closer,  crept 
an  army  of  five  hundred  copper-colored  warriors 
headed  by  a  British  officer  named  Caldwell  and 
a  notorious  American  renegade,  Simon  Girty. 

Sunrise  found  the  station  on  the  Elkhorn 
completely    surrounded    by    the    Indians,    not 
one  of  whom,  however,  was  visible  from  the 
[142] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

stockade.  Girty,  never  suspecting  that  the 
settlers  were  planning  to  march  out  of  their 
own  accord,  and  thus  clear  the  way  for  an  easy 
victory,  had  devised  a  crafty  scheme  to  lure 
them  to  destruction.  At  his  orders  the  main 
body  of  the  invaders  remained  concealed  in 
weeds,  long  grass,  and  growing  corn  between 
the  back  of  the  station  and  the  river,  while  a 
small  company  was  posted  along  the  trail  that 
led  past  the  front  gate  of  the  stockade,  the  inten 
tion  being  that  they  should  keep  hidden  until 
daylight,  when  they  were  boldly  to  show  them 
selves.  It  was  thought  that  the  garrison  would 
then  rush  out  to  attack  them,  and  would  pursue 
them  along  the  trail,  while  their  comrades  at 
the  same  time  would  storm  the  station  from 
behind. 

A  few  years  earlier  this  scheme  would  un 
doubtedly  have  proved  effective.  But  the 
Kentuckians  had  learned  wisdom  from  bitter 
experience,  and,  instead  of  blindly  rushing  out, 
orders  were  at  once  issued  to  make  ready  to 
[143] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

withstand  a  siege.  More  than  this,  a  counter 
plot  was  quickly  formed.  Ten  or  twelve  vol 
unteers  were  to  be  sent  to  engage  the  Indians 
on  the  trail,  while  the  rest  of  the  garrison, 
posted  at  the  port-holes  facing  the  river,  were 
to  reserve  their  fire  until  the  real  assault  from 
the  rear  was  made.  Then  the  assailants  were 
to  be  greeted  with  a  volley  which,  it  was  not 
doubted,  would  greatly  decimate  their  ranks 
and  send  them  scurrying  back  to  cover. 

One  problem  remained,  and  a  most  serious 
one.  Like  most  of  the  Kentucky  settlements 
of  that  early  time,  Bryan's  Station  depended 
for  its  water  supply  on  a  spring  some  distance 
from  the  stockade,  the  custom  being  for  the 
women  and  girls  to  go  to  the  spring  early  in 
the  morning  and  carry  in  enough  water  to  last 
through  the  day.  In  the  case  of  Bryan's 
Station,  the  spring  was  located  at  the  foot  of 
a  slope  leading  from  the  stockade  to  the  river, 
and  in  the  very  midst  of  the  trees  and  shrubs, 
cane  and  weeds  where  the  Indians  lay  concealed. 
[144] 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT 

Yet  water  the  defenders  must  have.  But  how 
to  obtain  it? 

If  a  party  of  men  went  out  it  was  certain  the 
Indians  would  fall  upon  and  overwhelm  them. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  women  of  the  settle 
ment  were  to  make  the  attempt,  visiting  the 
spring  in  accordance  with  their  daily  custom, 
there  was  a  bare  possibility  that  they  might 
not  be  molested  if  they  could  only  deceive 
the  Indians  into  thinking  that  their  presence 
was  still  undetected.  Of  course,  though,  the 
risk  would  be  great,  and  the  question  was  would 
the  women  be  willing  to  take  it. 

Called  together  in  one  of  the  block-houses  to 
discuss  the  situation,  and  being  plainly  in 
formed  that  without  water  it  would  be  hopeless 
to  attempt  a  defense,  their  decision  was  soon 
made.  Stepping  forward  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  one  of  them  —  Mrs.  Jemima  Suggett 
Johnson,  the  mother  of  five  children,  including 
the  future  hero  of  the  Battle  of  the  Thames  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  Richard 
[145] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

M.  Johnson,  then  an  infant  peacefully  slumber 
ing  in  a  rough-hewed  cradle  —  put  her  hand 
on  the  shoulder  of  her  ten-year-old  daughter, 
Betsy,  and  said: 

"  I  will  go  for  water,  and  my  girl  Betsy  will 
go  with  me.  And  we  shall  not  have  to  go  alone." 

The  half-challenge,  half-invitation  in  her 
words  was  instantly  accepted  by  the  other 
women  of  the  station.  One  after  another  they 
promised  to  follow  her,  and  pledged  the  assist 
ance  of  their  daughters.  From  cabin  to  cabin 
they  ran  in  search  of  water  vessels,  heavy 
pails  for  the  grown  women  and  the  older  girls, 
and  for  the  younger  ones  little  piggins  and  nog 
gins  with  their  quaint  single  and  double  up 
right  staves  for  handles. 

When  all   was  in  readiness   the  back  gate 

of  the  stockade  was  opened,  and  out  they  walked 

-  twenty-eight  women  and  girls,  chatting  and 

laughing  and  singing  as  though  they  had  not 

the  faintest  suspicion  that  their  deadliest  foes 

were  hovering  near.     Down  the  sloping  hill- 

[146] 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT 

side  they  made  their  way,  through  the  tall 
weeds  and  charred  stumps  of  the  clearing, 
by  a  path  so  narrow  that  two  could  not  walk 
abreast.  A  few  moments  more,  and  they  were 
lost  to  sight  in  a  cane-brake  high  enough  to  give 
cover  to  a  man  on  horseback.  Still  their 
voices  rang  merrily,  carrying  assurance  to  the 
anxious  men  in  the  stockade,  and  completely 
deceiving  the  Indians,  who  crouched  lower 
in  their  hiding-places. 

It  was  a  marvelous  display  of  self-control, 
of  resolute  intrepidity,  but  it  was  hard  indeed 
for  the  women  and  girls  to  keep  up  their  show 
of  unconcern.  Here  and  there,  in  the  cane  and 
weeds  and  long  grass,  they  caught  the  glitter 
of  a  rifle  barrel,  the  tremulous  quivering  of  a 
war  feather,  the  gleam  of  an  evil  eye.  They 
could  hear  a  low  whispering,  which  they  rightly 
interpreted  as  the  furtive  consultation  of  the 
Indians,  perplexedly  asking  one  another  whether 
it  was  not  wiser  to  make  a  beginning  of  the 
struggle  there  and  then.  Small  wonder  if,  as 
[1471 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

they  neared  the  spring,  the  laughter  of  some 
died  away,  the  voices  of  others  grew  more  sub 
dued. 

Swiftly,  yet  without  appearance  of  haste, 
they  bent  to  their  task.  The  girls,  some  of 
whom  were  not  much  older  than  little  Betsy 
Johnson,  were  the  first  to  fill  their  piggins  and 
noggins  and  buckets  and  start  on  the  homeward 
journey.  After  them  came  the  women,  several, 
like  Mrs.  Johnson,  returning  with  a  pail  in 
each  hand  and  a  third  on  the  head.  Through 
the  cane  they  hurried  back,  with  firm  tread, 
glancing  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left, 
lest,  in  their  now  intense  excitement,  the  merest 
glimpse  of  a  tawny  form  might  betray  one  of 
them  into  a  shriek  that  would  bring  the  Indians 
upon  them.  And  thus,  with  their  hearts  ever 
beating  faster  beneath  their  shabby  linsey- 
woolsey  dresses,  they  regained  the  clearing, 
passed  up  the  hill  to  the  stockade  gate,  and 
through  the  gate,  their  noble  deed  accomplished. 

With    their   return    the    defenders   hastened 
[148] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

into  action.  Each  man  leaped  to  his  appointed 
post,  in  block-house  or  by  stockade  port-hole, 
the  front  gate  was  opened  wide,  and  out  dashed 
the  squad  of  volunteers,  blazing  away  at  the 
Indians  on  the  trail,  who  answered  with  a  volley, 
then  fled  with  taunting  cries.  After  them 
sped  the  volunteers,  firing  as  they  ran,  shout 
ing  and  hallooing,  and,  in  short,  contriving  to 
make  as  much  noise  as  though  they  were  half 
a  hundred  instead  of  but  a  dozen  men.  Inside 
the  stockade  perfect  silence  reigned. 

Then  the  expected  happened.  Up  from  the 
the  grass  and  weeds,  out  from  the  corn 
and  cane-brake,  lithe,  hideously-painted  forms 
emerged,  Girty  at  their  head.  Up  the  hill 
they  raced,  at  first  in  a  wide,  semi-circular 
line,  but  massing  together  as  they  neared  the 
gate.  On  they  came,  until  every  detail  of 
their  gaunt,  malevolent  features  was  plainly 
visible.  Not  until  then  did  the  cry  ring  out: 

"Fire!" 

With  that  first  volley  victory  was  practically 
[149] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

assured.  When  the  smoke  cleared,  fallen 
Indians  dotted  the  hillside,  inert  shapes  or 
writhing  horribly,  while  the  uninjured  had 
once  more  vanished  into  the  thickets  by  the 
river.  The  volley,  too,  was  the  signal  for  the 
return  of  those  who  had  sallied  out  to  give 
sham  battle  to  the  decoy  detachment.  Not  at 
once,  to  be  sure,  did  the  Indians  give  over  the 
attempt  that  had  begun  so  disastrously  for 
them.  Urged  by  Girty,  they  returned  again 
and  again  to  the  attack,  until  a  warning  reached 
them  that  a  powerful  relief  expedition  had  been 
raised  and  was  on  its  way  to  the  station.1 

Such  an  exhibition  of  unflinching  valor  ob 
viously  presupposed  innate  characteristics  of 
great  forcefulness,  and  it  cannot  be  too  strongly 
emphasized  that  the  pioneer  women  of  the  early 
West  brought  with  them  from  the  East  qual 
ities  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  welfare 

1  Colonel  Durrett's  "Bryant's  Station,"  published  as 
No.  12  of  the  Filson  Club's  publications,  contains  accounts  of 
this  siege  by  both  Colonel  Durrett  and  George  W.  Ranck,  two 
Kentucky  historians. 

[1501 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT 

of  the  prosperous,  progressive  commonwealths 
which  they  assisted  to  upbuild. 

For  the  most  part  the  early  West  —  by  which 
is  meant  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Ten 
nessee  —  was  settled  from  the  frontiers  of 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  and  by  people  of 
the  so-called  Scotch-Irish  race.  The  women  of 
this  stock  were  a  strong-limbed,  clear-eyed  folk. 
Their  predominant  trait  was  a  stubborn, 
unflinching  courageousness,  manifest  alike  in 
times  of  great  crisis,  and  in  the  ordinary  vicis 
situdes  of  life. 

When  Mrs.  Joseph  Davies  of  Virginia,  to 
give  an  illustration,  broke  her  arm  at  the  cross 
ing  of  the  Cumberland  River,  but  continued 
on  the  road  to  Kentucky,  riding  her  horse  and 
carrying  her  baby  as  though  no  injury  had  be 
fallen  her,  she  but  typified  the  innate  pluck 
and  determination  common  to  the  women  who 
settled  the  West.  There  were  no  weaklings 
among  them  —  weaklings  could  never  have 
crossed  the  well-nigh  trackless  mountains,  to 
[151] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

say  nothing  of  withstanding  the  ordeals  of 
the  wilderness  existence. 

They  were,  too,  wonderfully  self-reliant 
women,  and  women  in  whom  the  spirit  of  in 
itiative  was  strongly  developed,  as  we  already 
know  from  our  study  of  the  border  women  of 
the  "  forgotten  half -century."  Many  were  in 
strumental  in  inducing  their  husbands  and 
sons  to  seek  new  homes  in  the  West. 

It  was  thus  that  William  Whitley,  the  noted 
Indian  fighter,  was  led  to  settle  in  Kentucky. 
Reports  of  the  remarkable  fertility  of  the  Blue 
Grass  country  had  reached  the  Virginia  settle 
ment  where  he  had  always  lived,  and  one  night, 
after  a  hard  day's  work  on  the  farm,  Whitley 
remarked  to  his  wife  that  if  Kentucky  were  all 
it  was  painted  it  would  pay  them  to  remove  to 
it.  "  Well,  Billy,"  was  her  quick  response,  "  if 
I  was  you,  I  would  go  and  find  out."  In  two 
days  he  was  Westward-bound,  with  rifle  and 
ax  and  plow. 

Similarly,  Rebecca  Boone  gave  a  signal  dis- 
[1521 


THE  WESTWARD   MOVEMENT 

play  of  the  self-reliant,  enterprising  spirit  of 
the  Western  women,  when  her  husband  was  cap 
tured  by  the  Indians  in  1778  and  taken  to 
Detroit  to  be  put  on  exhibition  as  one  of  the 
most  redoubtable  of  border  fighters.  Believing 
him  dead,  she  decided  to  return  with  her  chil 
dren  to  the  North  Carolina  home  of  her  kins 
folk,  packed  her  belongings,  loaded  them  on 
horses,  and  actually  traversed  without  assist 
ance  the  difficult  and  dangerous  Wilderness 
Road  and  the  equally  arduous  trails  from  Cum 
berland  Gap  to  the  Yadkin  Valley.  It  was 
there  that  Boone  found  her  after  his  escape 
from  captivity,  and  thence,  willingly  as  ever, 
she  again  accompanied  him  to  Kentucky,  even 
while  the  Indian  wars  were  still  raging. 

The  mother  of  Sam  Houston  was  another 
woman  who,  for  the  sake  of  her  children,  haz 
arded  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness  journey 
without  the  protection  of  a  man's  strong  arm. 
She  must  have  justified  to  the  full  the  eulo 
gistic  description  penned  of  her  by  Houston's 
[1531 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

friend  and  biographer,  C.  Edwards  Lester, 
who  portrayed  her  as  "an  extraordinary 
woman,  distinguished  by  an  impressive  and 
dignified  countenance,  and  gifted  with  intellec 
tual  and  moral  qualities  which  elevated  her  in 
a  still  more  striking  manner  above  most  of 
her  sex." 

The  death  of  her  husband  left  Mrs.  Houston 
in  rather  poor  circumstances  and  with  a  grow 
ing  family  of  six  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Knowing  that  many  of  her  neighbors  who  had 
gone  West  had  prospered  exceedingly,  she  de 
termined  to  follow  their  example  in  order  that 
her  children  might  get  a  good  start  in  life,  sold 
her  Virginia  farm,  and  journeyed  to  Tennessee, 
ending  her  migration  only  when  within  eight 
miles  of  the  boundary  between  the  settlements 
of  the  whites  and  the  wigwams  of  the  Cherokees. 

There   she  erected  a  rude  cabin,   with  the 

help  of  her  oldest  boys,  and  there  she  labored 

diligently  to  bring  up  her  children  to  be  useful 

men  and  women.     It  was  for  them  that  she 

[154] 


THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT 

toiled  and  prayed  and  denied  herself,  person 
ifying  in  her  devotion  another  trait  of  the 
mothers  of  the  early  West. 

However  poor  they  might  be,  they  were 
women  of  lofty  ambitions  and  high  ideals. 
Their  huge  sunbonnets  and  faded  gowns  re- 
fleeted  only  the  exterior  poverty  of  their  lives; 
in  their  motherly  love,  their  capacity  to  sym 
pathize  with  the  sick  and  suffering,  their  pro 
found  religious  faith  and  noble  moral  principles, 
they  were  truly  rich. 

And  this  is  why,  despite  all  the  hardships 
and  privation  that  attended  the  westward 
movement,  the  children  of  the  pioneers  were 
born  to  a  goodly  inheritance,  if  not  of  the  things 
of  this  earth,  assuredly  of  the  greater  blessings 
of  a  strong  physique,  a  sane,  healthy  outlook 
on  life,  and  a  real  greatness  of  soul. 


155 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

THE  distinctive  traits  of  the  American 
woman  —  her  ability  to  rise  sublimely  to 
great  occasions  and  meet  a  crisis  unflinchingly, 
her  willingness  to  give  the  best  that  is  in  her 
for  the  sake  of  those  she  loves  and  for  the  noble 
cause  of  patriotism,  and  her  marvelous  ca 
pacity  to  endure  hardship,  suffering,  and  pri 
vation  —  have  never  been  more  convincingly 
revealed  than  in  the  long  struggle  over  slavery, 
which  gradually  divided  the  nation  into  two 
hostile  camps  and  at  last  culminated  in  a  co 
lossal  war. 

On  both  sides  in  that  terrible  conflict,  the 

women  of  the  country  proved  themselves  worthy 

descendants  of  the  splendid  matrons  who  had 

wrought  so  nobly  for  America  in  bygone  times. 

[1561 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

And  even  in  the  earliest  stages  of  the  struggle, 
in  the  period  of  agitation  from  1820  onward, 
when  the  American  people  were  only  dimly 
beginning  to  perceive  that  the  presence  of  the 
bondsman  on  American  soil  involved  problems 
which  menaced  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the 
republic,  women  were  to  the  fore  in  pointing 
out  the  path  of  destiny  and  duty. 

Anti-slavery  agitation,  of  course,  was  by 
no  means  confined  to  the  forty  years  immedi 
ately  preceding  the  Civil  War.  Protests  were 
heard  almost  so  soon  as  the  first  slaves  were 
imported  into  the  English  colonies  in  1619, 
and  throughout  the  colonial  period  the  subject 
was  intermittently  discussed.  It  formed  a 
ground  for  heated  controversy  in  the  Constitu 
tional  Convention  of  1787,  and  for  a  time 
threatened  to  wreck  the  labors  of  the  constitu 
tion  makers.  But,  although  the  process  of 
emancipating  slaves  steadily  continued  in  the 
States  of  the  North,  there  was  no  systematic 
movement  looking  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
[157] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

throughout  the  United  States  until  Benjamin 
Lundy  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison  began  the 
crusade  that  speedily  drew  upon  them  the 
wrath  of  those  who  believed  that  the  holding 
of  slaves  was  morally,  politically,  and  eco 
nomically  justifiable.  On  the  other  hand,  from 
the  moment  that  Garrison  raised  his  powerful 
voice  and  wielded  his  trenchant  pen  in  behalf 
of  the  slave,  recruits  hastened  to  enlist  under 
the  standard  he  had  raised,  and  within  a  re 
markably  short  time  hundreds  of  ardent  ad 
vocates  of  universal  emancipation  were  to  be 
found  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  movement 
spread  may  be  indicated  in  a  few  sentences. 
In  1831  Garrison  founded  his  emancipation 
newspaper,  The  Liberator,  and  within  another 
twelve  months  a  New  England  Anti-Slavery 
Society  was  established.  During  the  next  year 
subsidiary  societies  sprang  up  in  so  many  cities 
and  towns  that  by  December,  1833,  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  organize  an  American 
[158] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

Anti-Slavery  Society  for  the  purpose  of  uniting 
and  concentrating  the  agitation  of  the  entire 
country.  By  1840  this  central  organization 
was  directing  the  work  of  no  fewer  than  two 
thousand  local  societies,  with  a  membership 
of  between  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
and  two  hundred  thousand  men  and  women. 
And  this,  be  it  clearly  understood,  despite  the 
bitterest  opposition  in  the  North  as  well  as 
in  the  South  —  an  opposition  that  in  many 
instances  took  the  form  of  mob  violence,  in 
response  to  the  cry  of  the  politician  and  the 
pro-slavery  advocate  that  the  Union  could  not 
endure  unless  the  abolitionists  were  silenced. 
In  New  York,  for  instance,  there  was  a  riot 
as  early  as  October,  1833,  when  Clinton  Hall, 
the  place  selected  for  an  abolition  meeting, 
was  raided  by  opponents  of  the  movement.1 

1  A.  B.  Hart's  "  Slavery  and  Abolition,"  published  as  vol. 
xvi  of  the  "  American  Nation  "  co-operative  history  of  the 
United  States.  This  book  may  be  recommended  as  giving 
an  excellent  modern  account  of  the  development  of  the  ab 
olition  movement. 

[159] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Other  riots  in  July  of  the  following  year  re 
sulted  in  the  sacking  of  the  home  of  Lewis 
Tappan,  a  wealthy  New  York  abolitionist, 
and  the  destruction  of  several  other  houses  and 
churches.  In  similar  riots  in  Philadelphia 
there  was  even  greater  damage  to  property, 
forty-four  houses  being  injured  or  totally  des 
troyed  in  a  single  outbreak  in  1834.  Four 
years  later,  in  the  same  city,  a  mob  burned 
Pennsylvania  Hall,  a  handsome  structure  which 
the  abolitionists  had  erected  because  of  the 
difficulty  experienced  in  leasing  suitable  quar 
ters  for  their  meetings.  It  had  been  officially 
opened  only  three  days  when  the  mob,  not 
withstanding  the  pleadings  of  the  mayor, 
broke  in  by  a  side  door,  started  a  fire,  and  then 
fought  off  the  firemen  sent  to  save  the  build 
ing. 

In    Boston,    anti-abolition    feeling    rose    to 

fever  heat  upon  the  arrival,  in  the  autumn  of 

1834,  of  a  forceful  English  abolitionist,  George 

Thompson,  who  came  from  abroad  in  the  hope 

[160] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

of  helping  Garrison  arouse  a  more  favorable 
public  sentiment  by  the  power  of  his  remark 
able  oratory.  The  announcement  that  he 
was  to  speak  at  a  meeting  of  the  Boston  Female 
Anti-Slavery  Society  brought  out,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  day  set  for  the  meeting,  a  vicious 
hand -bill  that  was  distributed  throughout  the 
city.  It  openly  incited  its  readers  to  violence, 
in  these  words: 

'  That  infamous  foreign  scoundrel  Thomp 
son  will  hold  forth  this  afternoon  at  the  Liberator 
office,  No.  48  Washington  Street.  The  present 
is  a  fair  opportunity  for  the  friends  of  the  Union 
to  snake  Thompson  out!  It  will  be  a  contest 
between  the  abolitionists  and  the  friends  of 
the  Union.  A  purse  of  one  hundred  dollars 
has  been  raised  by  a  number  of  patriotic  cit 
izens  to  reward  the  individual  who  shall  first 
lay  violent  hands  on  Thompson  so  that  he 
may  be  brought  to  the  tar-kettle  before  dark. 
Friends  of  the  Union,  be  vigilant!  " 

Thompson  was  not  present  at  the  meeting, 
[161] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

but  Garrison  was,  and  on  him  fell  the  fury  of 
the  mob.  After  wrecking  the  office  of  The 
Liberator,  they  tied  a  rope  around  Garrison 
and  dragged  him  through  the  streets  to  the 
city  hall,  where  the  mayor  committed  him  to 
jail,  ostensibly  as  a  "  disturber  of  the  peace," 
but  in  reality  to  save  his  life.  A  similar  scene 
was  enacted  at  Cincinnati  in  1836,  when  the 
office  of  The  Philanthropist  was  gutted,  and  a 
determined  effort  made  to  kill  its  editor,  James 
G.  Birney.  And  the  next  year,  at  Alton,  111., 
anti-abolition  hatred  actually  culminated  in 
murder,  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  the  editor  of  a  little 
abolition  paper,  being  deliberately  shot  down 
by  a  mob,  twelve  of  whom  were  afterward 
tried  for  the  crime  but  acquitted  after  only  ten 
minutes'  deliberation  by  the  jury. 

In  spite  of  all  this  —  perhaps  partly  on 
account  of  it,  for  persecution  has  always 
strengthened  worthy  causes  —  the  abolition 
movement,  as  was  said,  grew  apace,  being 
carried  forward  by  an  ever  increasing  army 
[162] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

of  enthusiasts,  both  men  and  women.  Women, 
indeed,  were  among  the  most  earnest,  eloquent 
and  indefatigable  champions  of  emancipation. 
They  formed  societies  of  their  own  —  chief 
among  which  was  the  already  mentioned  Bos 
ton  Female  Anti-Slavery  Society,  of  whose 
leading  spirit,  Mrs.  Maria  Weston  Chapman, 
the  gifted  and  beautiful  wife  of  a  wealthy  Boston 
merchant,  it  has  been  said  that  she  was  "  second 
to  none  in  her  lieutenancy  to  Garrison,  the 
captain  of  the  great  reform "  -  and  at  the 
cost  of  no  matter  what  personal  sacrifice  they 
labored  to  promote  a  cause  which  appealed  to 
their  profoundest  moral  instincts. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  two  women  who 
were  especially  prominent  at  the  time  when 
abolition  was  most  in  disfavor  —  from  1833  to 
1840  —  were  Southerners,  Sarah  and  Angelina 
Grimke,  the  daughters  of  Judge  John  F. 
Grimke,  of  Charleston,  one  of  the  most  in 
fluential  men  in  South  Carolina.  That  South 
ern  women  generally  did  not  sympathize  with 
[1631 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

the  emancipation  movement  is  not  at  all  sur 
prising,  neither  is  it  to  their  discredit.  Like 
the  men  of  the  South,  they  had  been  brought 
up  to  consider  slavery  a  fixed  and  necessary 
institution;  they  saw  little  or  nothing  of  its 
worst  side,  and  they  were  disposed  to  re 
gard  the  condition  of  the  negro  in  slavery  as 
infinitely  better  than  would  be  his  lot  were  he 
liberated  and  compelled  to  shift  for  himself. 
To  put  it  otherwise,  training  and  environment 
alike  constrained  the  Southern  women  to 
look  at  the  question  from  a  point  of  view  dif 
fering  radically  from  that  of  the  women  of  the 
North. 

But  Sarah  and  Angelina  Grimke,  notwith 
standing  that  they  were  born  into  a  family  of 
slaveholders,  and  at  one  time  owned  slaves 
of  their  own,  seem  to  have  viewed  slavery 
with  abhorrence  from  early  youth.  "  Slavery," 
wrote  Sarah,  "  was  a  millstone  about  my  neck, 
and  marred  my  comfort  from  the  time  I  can 
remember  myself."  They  left  home  and  re- 
[164] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

moved  to  Philadelphia,  where  they  joined  the 
Quakers,  and  where,  in  1836,  Angelina,  the 
younger  but  the  more  talented  of  the  two  sis 
ters,  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  An  Appeal 
to  the  Christian  Women  of  the  South."  It 
was  a  vigorous  anti-slavery  document,  and 
caused  a  tremendous  sensation.  The  profound 
impression  it  made  on  abolitionists  may  be 
judged  from  a  letter  written  to  its  author  by 
Elizur  Wright,  then  secretary  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society. 

"  I  have  just  finished  reading  your  Appeal, 
and  not  with  a  dry  eye,"  wrote  Mr.  Wright. 
"  Oh,  that  it  could  be  rained  down  into  every 
parlor  in  our  land.  I  know  it  will  carry  the 
Christian  women  of  the  South  if  it  can  be 
read,  and  my  soul  blesses  that  dear  and  glo 
rious  Saviour  who  has  helped  you  to  write  it." 

And,    according    to    Catherine    H.    Birney, 

the    biographer    of    the    Grimke    sisters,    Mr. 

Wright  also  spoke  of  it  as  "a  patch  of  blue 

sky  breaking  through  the  storm-cloud  of  public 

[165] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

indignation  which  had  gathered  so  black  over 
the  handful  of  anti-slavery  workers." 

Published  as  an  official  pamphlet  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  the  "  Appeal  " 
was  sent  broadcast  through  the  land,  and  es 
pecially  through  the  South.  Of  its  reception 
in  Miss  Grimke's  native  State,  and  of  the  in 
dignation  it  stirred  up  against  her,  an  inter 
esting  contemporary  account  is  in  existence, 
written  by  the  man  whom  she  afterwards 
married,  the  abolitionist  Theodore  Weld: 

"  When  it  came  out,  a  large  number  of 
copies  were  sent  by  mail  to  South  Carolina. 
Most  of  them  were  publicly  burned  by  post 
masters.  Not  long  after  this,  the  city  author 
ities  of  Charleston  learned  that  Miss  Grimke 
was  intending  to  visit  her  mother  and  sisters, 
and  pass  the  winter  with  them.  Thereupon 
the  mayor  called  upon  Mrs.  Grimke  and  de 
sired  her  to  inform  her  daughter  that  the 
police  had  been  instructed  to  prevent  her 
landing  while  the  steamer  remained  in  port, 
[166] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

and  to  see  to  it  that  she  should  not  communi 
cate,  by  letter  or  otherwise,  with  any  persons 
in  the  city;  and,  further,  that  if  she  should 
elude  their  vigilance  and  go  on  shore,  she  would 
be  arrested  and  imprisoned  until  the  return  of 
the  vessel. 

"  Her  Charleston  friends  at  once  conveyed 
to  her  the  message  of  the  mayor,  and  added 
that  the  people  of  Charleston  were  so  incensed 
against  her  that  if  she  should  go  there  despite 
the  mayor's  threat  of  pains  and  penalties,  she 
could  not  escape  personal  violence  at  the  hands 
of  the  mob.  She  replied  to  the  letter  that  her 
going  would  probably  compromise  her  family, 
not  only  distress  them,  but  put  them  in  peril; 
which  she  had  neither  heart  nor  right  to  do; 
but  for  that  fact,  she  would  certainly  exercise 
her  constitutional  right  as  an  American  cit 
izen,  and  go  to  Charleston  to  visit  her  relatives, 
and  if  for  that  the  authorities  should  inflict 
upon  her  pains  and  penalties,  she  would  willingly 
bear  them,  assured  that  such  an  outrage  would 
[167] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

help  to  reveal  to  the  free  States  the  fact  that 
slavery  defies  and  tramples  alike  upon  consti 
tutions  and  laws,  and  thus  outlaws  itself." 1 

Thenceforward  both  sisters  became  active 
workers  in  behalf  of  abolition,  laboring  for  the 
great  cause  by  word  of  mouth  as  well  as  by 
word  of  pen.  In  fact,  it  was  as  speakers  that 
they  embarked  on  their  joint  crusade,  when, 
a  few  months  after  the  publication  of  the  "  Ap 
peal,"  they  accepted  an  invitation  from  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society  to  visit  New 
York  and  lecture  on  slavery  as  they  had  seen 
it  in  South  Carolina. 

At  the  time  it  was  not  customary  for  women 
to  take  the  platform  at  public  gatherings, 
and  accordingly  the  Grimkes  held  their  meet 
ings  in  private,  and  admitted  only  their  own 
sex.  But  those  who  attended  carried  home 
such  glowing  reports,  particularly  of  Angelina 
Grimke's  eloquence,  that  men  began  to  slip 
in  quietly  to  hear  them,  and  soon  their  lectures 

1  Catherine  H.  Birney's  "  The  Sisters  Grimke*,"  pp.  149-150. 

[168] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

became  public  in  the  fullest  sense.  Bitter 
opposition  at  once  developed,  some  Congrega 
tional  clergymen  of  Massachusetts  taking  the 
lead  in  denouncing  "  women  preachers."  But 
the  Grimkes  valiantly  persevered,  with  the 
result  of  gradually  forcing  public  acquiescence 
in  the  right  of  women  to  free  speech.  They 
spoke  throughout  the  Eastern  States,  and  so 
large  did  their  audiences  become  that  it  often 
was  necessary  to  hold  overflow  meetings  in  a 
separate  hall,  Sarah  Grimke  addressing  one 
meeting  while  Angelina  was  addressing  an 
other. 

"  At  one  place,"  says  their  biographer, 
"  where  over  a  thousand  people  crowded  into 
a  church,  one  of  the  joists  gave  way;  it  was 
propped  up,  but  soon  others  began  to  crack, 
and,  although  the  people  were  warned  to  leave 
that  part  of  the  building,  only  a  few  obeyed, 
and  it  was  found  impossible  to  persuade  them 
to  go,  or  to  consent  to  have  the  speaking 
stopped. 

[169] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

"  At  another  place  ladders  were  put  up  at 
all  the  windows,  and  men  crowded  upon  them, 
and  tenaciously  held  their  uncomfortable  po 
sitions  through  the  whole  meeting.  In  one 
or  two  places  they  were  refused  a  meeting 
house,  on  account  of  strong  sectarian  feeling 
against  them  as  Quakers.  At  Worcester  they 
had  to  adjourn  from  a  large  Congregational 
church  to  a  small  Methodist  one,  because  the 
clergyman  of  the  former  suddenly  returned  from 
an  absence,  and  declared  that  if  they  spoke  in 
his  church  he  would  never  enter  it  again. 

"  At  Bolton,  notices  of  their  meetings  were 
torn  down,  but  the  town  hall  was  packed  not 
withstanding,  many  going  away,  unable  to 
get  in.  The  church  here  had  also  been  refused 
them.  Angelina,  in  the  course  of  her  lecture, 
seized  an  opportunity  to  refer  to  their  treatment, 
saying  that  if  the  people  of  her  native  city 
could  see  her  lecturing  in  that  hall  because 
every  church  had  been  closed  against  the 
cause  of  God's  down-trodden  creatures,  they 
[1701 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

would  clap  their  hands  for  joy,  and  say :  '  See 
what  slavery  is  doing  for  us  in  the  town  of 
Bolton.'  " 

Like  most  abolitionists  of  the  period,  they 
had  some  thrilling  experiences.  More  than 
once  they  were  attacked  by  angry  crowds, 
armed  with  sticks,  stones,  and  rotten  eggs. 
They  were  witnesses  of  the  burning  of  Pennsyl 
vania  Hall.  In  fact,  the  night  before  the  burn 
ing,  Angelina  —  who  had  been  married  to  Mr. 
Weld  just  three  days  previously  —  addressed  a 
crowded  audience  in  the  doomed  edifice,  while 
a  mob  raged  outside,  shouting,  jeering,  and 
hurling  stones  through  the  windows. 

:<  With  deep  solemnity,"  we  are  told,  "  and 
in  words  of  burning  eloquence,  she  gave  her 
testimony  against  the  awful  wickedness  of 
an  institution  which  had  no  secrets  from  her. 
She  was  frequently  interrupted  by  the  mob, 
but  their  yells  and  shouts  only  furnished  her 
with  metaphors  which  she  used  with  unshrink 
ing  power.  More  stones  were  thrown  at  the 
[1711 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

windows,  more  glass  crashed,  but  she  only 
paused  to  ask: 

"  '  What  is  a  mob?  What  would  the  break 
ing  of  every  window  be?  Any  evidence  that 
we  are  wrong,  or  that  slavery  is  a  good  and 
wholesome  institution?  What  if  that  mob 
should  now  burst  in  upon  us,  break  up  our 
meeting,  and  commit  violence  upon  our  per 
sons  —  would  this  be  anything  compared  with 
what  the  slaves  endure?  No,  no;  and  we  do 
not  remember  them  "  as  bound  with  them  "  if 
we  shrink  in  the  time  of  peril,  or  feel  unwilling 
to  sacrifice  ourselves,  if  need  be,  for  their 
sake.  .  .  .' 

"  Here  a  shower  of  stones  was  thrown  through 
the  windows,  and  there  was  some  disturbance 
in  the  audience,  but  quiet  was  again  restored, 
and  Angelina  proceeded,  and  spoke  for  over 
an  hour,  making  no  further  reference  to  the 
noise  without,  and  only  showing  that  she  no 
ticed  it  by  raising  her  own  voice  so  that  it 
could  be  heard  throughout  the  hall.  Not  once 
[172] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

was  a  tremor  or  change  of  color  perceptible, 
and  though  the  missiles  continued  to  fly  through 
the  broken  sashes,  and  the  hootings  and  yellings 
increased  outside,  so  powerfully  did  her  words 
and  tones  hold  that  vast  audience  that,  im 
minent  as  seemed  their  peril,  scarcely  a  man 
or  woman  moved  to  depart.  She  sat  down  amid 
applause  that  drowned  all  the  noise  outside."  1 

This  was  her  last  appearance  in  public. 
Soon  afterward  she  had  an  accident  that  so 
severely  injured  her  nervous  system  as  to  make 
retirement  to  private  life  inevitable;  and  in  her 
withdrawal  from  the  arena  of  public  agitation 
and  controversy  she  was  accompanied  by  her 
sister. 

Compared  with  other  advocates  of  abolition, 
theirs  was  a  brief  career;  but  while  it  lasted 
it  was  meteoric,  and  contemporary  judgment 
is  unanimous  as  to  its  influence  in  shaping  pub 
lic  opinion.  Moreover,  too  much  credit  cannot 
be  given  the  sisters  for  the  sacrifice  they  made 

1  Catherine  H.  Birney's  "The  Sisters  GrimkeY'  pp.  240-241. 

[173] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

in  renouncing  for  all  time  the  happiness  and 
advantages  of  their  luxurious  Southern  home. 
It  may  be  added  that  both  lived  to  see  the 
dream  of  their  youth  realized  and  the  negro 
set  free,  Sarah  Grimke  living  until  1873,  and 
Angelina  until  1879. 

Another  woman  who  made  a  very  real  sac 
rifice  in  championing  the  slave  was  Mrs.  Lydia 
Maria  Child.  Perhaps  no  other  sacrificed  so 
much.  Unlike  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  whose 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  -  published  at  a  far  later 
day,  when  abolition  had  become  more  popular 
-  was  the  making  of  her  literary  reputation, 
Mrs.  Child's  hopes  and  plans  as  a  writer  were 
irretrievably  ruined  by  her  advocacy  of  freedom 
for  the  negro.  She  was  easily  the  favorite 
authoress  of  the  day  up  to  the  time  she  brought 
out  her  "  Appeal  in  Favor  of  that  Class  of 
American  called  Africans."  In  speaking  of 
her  work  even  the  conservative  North  American 
Review  said: 

'  We  are  not  sure  that  any  woman  of  our 
[174] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

country  could  outrank  Mrs.  Child.  This  lady 
has  been  before  the  public  as  an  author  with 
much  success.  And  she  well  deserves  it,  for 
in  all  her  works  nothing  can  be  found  which 
does  not  commend  itself  by  its  tone  of  healthy 
morality  and  good  sense.  Few  female  writers 
if  any  have  done  more  or  better  things  for  our 
literature  in  the  lighter  or  graver  depart 
ments." 

Wherever  in  the  Union  books  were  read,  she 
commanded  an  enthusiastic  following.  But 
the  moment  her  "  Appeal  "  was  issued,  the 
market  was  closed  against  her  writings,  and 
obloquy  took  the  place  of  adulation. 

In  the  preface  to  the  "  Appeal  "  occurs  a 
pathetic  little  passage  which  shows  how  clearly 
Mrs.  Child  appreciated  the  penalty  she  would 
have  to  pay.  "Should  it  be  the  means,"  she 
bravely  wrote,  "  of  advancing  even  one  single 
step  the  inevitable  progress  of  truth  and  jus 
tice,  I  would  not  exchange  that  consciousness 
for  all  of  Rothschild's  wealth  or  Sir  Walter's 
[175] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

fame."  There  were  indeed  those  to  whom  the 
"  Appeal  "  came  with  convincing  force.  John 
A.  Andrew,  afterward  the  celebrated  war 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  bought  it,  wept  over 
it,  and  gave  it  to  his  sisters  to  read.  Samuel 
J.  May,  who  became  one  of  abolition's  stanch- 
est  supporters,  testified  publicly  that  it  made 
an  abolitionist  of  him.  "  After  reading  it," 
said  he,  "I  could  not  be  anything  but  an  abo 
litionist." 

Mrs.  Child  herself,  having  taken  the  first 
and  most  difficult  step,  entered  enthusiastic 
ally  into  the  struggle  to  promote  the  spread 
of  abolition  ideas.  For  a  while  she  edited  the 
National  Anti- Slavery  Standard,  and  under  her 
direction  it  became  an  increasingly  vigorous 
organ.  Besides  which,  innumerable  pamphlets 
and  articles  contributed  to  other  periodicals 
testify  to  the  energy  with  which  she  worked. 

To  the  end  of  her  long  and  useful  life  she 
retained  a  particularly  warm  spot  in  her  heart 
for  "  the  oppressed  African."  In  1864,  the 

[176] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

waning  of  anti-abolition  prejudice  in  the  North 
having  allowed  her  to  regain  in  some  measure 
her  former  popularity  as  an  author,  she  pub 
lished  a  book,  "  Looking  Toward  Sunset," 
designed,  as  she  put  it,  "  to  present  old  people 
with  something  cheerful."  It  was  issued  during 
the  holiday  season  and  proved  unexpectedly 
successful,  four  thousand  copies  being  sold 
within  a  very  short  time.  Although  by  no 
means  a  woman  of  wealth,  Mrs.  Child  is  said 
to  have  devoted  every  penny  of  the  profits  to 
the  freed  negroes  of  the  South,  sending  four 
hundred  dollars  as  a  first  instalment.1  Besides 
this,  she  prepared  a  volume,  "  The  Freedman's 
Book,"  which  she  published  at  her  own  ex 
pense,  and  of  which  she  gave  twelve  hundred 
copies  to  the  freedmen.  The  story  is  also  told 
that  she  once  sent  Wendell  Phillips  a  cheque 
for  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  freedmen 's 
fund,  and  on  his  protesting  that,  as  he  well  knew, 

1  S.  C.  Beach's  "  Daughters  of  the  Puritans."  This  work 
contains  several  excellent  biographical  sketches  of  notable 
American  women  of  the  Civil  War  period. 

[177] 


WOMAN    IN  THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

she  could  not  afford  to  give  such  a  sum,  re 
sponded  by  insisting  on  doubling  the  amount 
of  her  contribution.  As  still  further  indicating 
the  intensity  of  her  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
the  negro,  a  passage  may  well  be  quoted  from 
a  letter  written  by  her  to  a  friend  during  the 
Civil  War: 

"  Every  string  that  I  can  get  sight  of  I  pull 
for  poor  Sambo.  I  write  to  the  Tribune  about 
him;  I  write  to  the  Transcript  about  him;  I 
write  to  private  individuals  about  him;  and 
I  write  to  the  President  and  members  of  Con 
gress  about  him;  I  write  to  Western  Virginia 
and  Missouri  about  him;  and  I  get  the  articles 
published  too.  This  shows  what  progress  the 
cause  of  freedom  is  making." 

Most  of  the  women,  however,  who  attained 
distinction  as  pioneers  in  the  movement  to 
set  free  the  slaves,  carried  on  their  propaganda 
from  the  public  platform  rather  than  from  the 
quiet  of  the  library  or  editorial  sanctum.  It 
was  thus  with  Lucretia  Mott,  Abby  Foster, 
[178] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

and  Sallie  Holley,  who  were  three  of  the  most 
conspicuous  standard-bearers  of  emancipation. 
Mrs.  Mott  was  an  abolitionist  even  before 
Garrison  entered  the  lists,  having  been  a  reader 
of  Benjamin  Lundy's  newspaper,  The  Genius 
of  Universal  Emancipation,  almost  from  its 
start  in  1821.  She  was  a  Pennsylvania  Quaker, 
and  a  woman  of  great  eloquence.  Some  idea 
of  the  ardor  with  which  she  devoted  herself 
to  abolition  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  in  a  single  tour  she  traveled  more  than 
twenty -four  hundred  miles,  mostly  by  stage 
coach,  and  spoke  at  seventy -four  meetings. 
Mrs.  Foster,  better  known  to  her  own  gen 
eration  as  Abby  Kelley,  was  another  member 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  that  religious  body 
which,  since  the  days  of  the  unfortunate  Mary 
Dyer,  has  done  much  to  advance  ideals  of 
freedom  in  America.  She  was  the  first  woman, 
after  the  Grimke  sisters  and  Mrs.  Mott,  to 
enter  the  field  as  an  anti-slavery  lecturer;  and 
she  was  a  familiar  figure  on  abolition  platforms 
[179] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

in  New  England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Ohio,  playing  a  particularly  prominent 
role  in  the  organization  of  the  Western  Anti- 
Slavery  Society. 

Sallie  Holley  was  the  daughter  of  Myron 
Holley,  the  New  York  reformer  who  was  one 
of  the  principal  originators  of  the  Liberty  party, 
the  forerunner  of  the  Republican  party.  Born 
in  1818,  she  was  too  young  to  take  part  in 
the  abolition  crusade  during  its  stormiest  days, 
but  from  1850  onward  she  was  an  indefatigable 
worker  in  the  ranks  of  the  Anti-Slavery  So 
ciety,  having  become  interested  in  the  eman 
cipation  movement  while  a  student  at  Oberlin 
College.  Nor  did  her  interest  in  the  negro 
cease  with  his  complete  emancipation.  After 
the  Civil  War  she  removed  to  Virginia,  and, 
in  conjunction  with  Carolina  Putnam,  also 
a  veteran  abolitionist,  opened  a  school  for 
colored  children. 

The  reception  she  met  from  the  former  slave 
holders  of  the  vicinity  was  in  striking  contrast 
[180] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

with  that  accorded  another  woman,  Prudence 
Crandall,  who,  some  years  before,  attempted 
to  conduct  a  similar  institution  not  in  the 
South  but  in  one  of  the  "  free  "  States  of  the 
North.  Her  story  forms  one  of  the  most  pa 
thetic  chapters  in  the  history  of  early  anti- 
slavery  days. 

She  was  a  Connecticut  woman,  a  resident 
of  the  town  of  Canterbury,  where,  in  1832, 
she  established  a  girls'  school.  From  the  start 
it  promised  to  be  a  great  success,  being  patron 
ized  by  Canterbury's  leading  citizens.  One 
day  a  young  colored  girl  applied  for  admission, 
explaining  that  she  wished  to  fit  herself  to 
teach  the  neglected  children  of  her  race.  She 
was  promptly  received,  and  as  promptly  the 
parents  of  the  white  pupils  informed  Miss 
Crandall  that  they  would  withdraw  their 
daughters  rf  she  did  not  dismiss  the  colored 
girl. 

Refusing  to  do  this,  she  soon  found  herself 
the  mistress  of  an  empty  school.     Now,  for 
[1811 


WOMAN    IN   THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

the  first  time,  she  began  to  appreciate  the  dif 
ficulties  in  the  way  of  every  negro,  free  or  en 
slaved,  who  sought  an  education;  and  she 
determined  henceforth  to  do  her  part  toward 
meeting  what  she  felt  to  be  a  very  real  need. 
Advertising  in  Garrison's  Liberator  that  she 
was  about  to  open  a  school  at  Canterbury  "  for 
young  ladies  and  little  misses  of  color,"  she  was 
before  long  giving  instruction  to  twenty  col 
ored  girls  from  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Bos 
ton,  and  Providence. 

Their  arrival  caused  a  lively  commotion, 
and  a  deputation  of  prominent  residents 
waited  upon  Miss  Crandall  to  protest  formally 
against  having  a  "  nigger  school "  planted 
in  their  midst.  But  she  quietly  replied  that 
she  was  only  doing  her  duty,  and  intended  to 
continue  doing  it.  Then  began  a  campaign 
of  bitter  and  unrelenting  persecution.  Trades 
men  refused  to  supply  her  with  provisions, 
former  "  friends  "  crossed  the  street  to  avoid 
speaking  to  her,  she  and  her  pupils  were  hooted 
[182] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

at  whenever  they  appeared  in  public.  It  was 
a  whole  town  against  one  friendless  woman. 
Still  she  refused  to  surrender.  In  despair,  the 
people  of  Canterbury  appealed  to  the  Connecti 
cut  legislature  for  aid,  and  actually  succeeded 
in  securing  the  enactment  of  a  law  forbidding 
the  establishment  of  any  school  for  colored 
persons  not  inhabitants  of  the  State,  unless 
first  written  permission  were  obtained  from  the 
selectmen  of  the  town  where  such  a  school 
was  to  be  located. 

This  law,  though  general  in  its  terms,  was 
aimed  directly  at  Miss  Crandall,  and  she  was 
forthwith  arrested  and  hurried  to  jail,  being 
thrown  into  a  cell  that  had  just  been  vacated  by 
a  condemned  murderer.  News  of  the  outrage 
quickly  spread,  and  a  wealthy  New  Yorker, 
fired  with  indignation,  subscribed  a  large  sum 
for  her  defense.  When  put  on  trial  the  jury 
disagreed,  but  her  persecutors  were  merciless, 
and  a  second  trial  resulted  in  a  verdict  of  guilty. 
An  appeal  was  at  once  taken  to  the  Supreme 
[183] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

Court,  whose  members,  to  their  everlasting 
credit,  refused  to  sustain  the  conviction.  Mean 
while  lawlessness  had  succeeded  where  legal 
measures  failed,  a  mob  armed  with  clubs  and 
iron  bars  breaking  into  the  school  and  almost 
completely  demolishing  it.  Realizing  that  it 
was  useless  to  keep  up  the  struggle,  and  being 
without  further  means,  Miss  Crandall  reluc 
tantly  abandoned  her  philanthropic  undertaking 
and  left  Canterbury.1 

The  spirit  of  unreasoning,  savage  animosity 
which  thus  manifested  itself  was  in  evidence 
everywhere  until  about  1840,  when  the  growing 
gulf  between  North  and  South  was  appreciably 
widened  by  the  conflict  over  the  annexation 
of  Texas.  Thereafter  the  people  of  the  North 
viewed  with  steadily  decreasing  rancor  and 
bitterness  those  who  insistently  demanded  the 
emancipation  of  the  slave.  By  1850  it  required 
only  some  unusual  stimulus  to  provoke  a  pop- 

1  A  more  detailed  account  of  Miss  Crandall's  experiences 
will  be  found  in  John  C.  Kimball's  "  Connecticut's  Canter 
bury  Tale,"  published,  as  a  pamphlet,  at  Hartford  in  1886. 

[1841 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

ular  upheaval  along  the  lines  of  abolition  teach 
ings;  and  such  a  stimulus,  as  everybody  knows, 
was  provided  by  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law.  Fast  on  its  heels,  and  appearing 
at  precisely  the  moment  to  produce  the  great 
est  effect,  came  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  with 
its  heartrending  pictures  of  the  life  of  the  slave. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  with  this 
single  volume  the  daughter  of  Lyman  Beecher 
accomplished  more  than  had  any  or  all  of 
her  predecessors  —  the  Grimke  sisters,  Mrs. 
Child,  Mrs.  Mott,  and  their  greatly  sacrificing, 
greatly  daring  fellow -workers.  They,  however 
had  prepared  the  way.  Had  it  not  been  for 
their  preliminary  labors,  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin," 
in  spite  of  all  its  inherent  power  and  interest, 
would  have  been  given  scant  attention.  As 
it  was,  it  became  epoch-making. 

Tn  vain  the  people  of  the  South  protested 
that  it  grossly  maligned  them,  and  that  it  con 
veyed  a  wildly  distorted  idea  of  the  conditions 
of  slavery.  The  people  of  the  North  brushed 
[185] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

their  protests  aside,  and  insisted  on  accepting 
Mrs.  Stowe's  book  at  face  value.  Within 
three  weeks  of  publication  twenty  thousand 
copies  were  sold,  and  within  three  months 
the  sales  had  risen  to  eighty  thousand.  Before 
the  year  was  out  eighteen  English  editions 
were  on  the  market,  and  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe's  fame  had  become  world- wide. 

The  work  of  a  woman,  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  "  made  an  especial  appeal  to  women. 
It  found  its  way  into  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  homes,  not  merely  in  the  larger  cities  and 
towns  but  in  remote  and  isolated  hamlets  where 
the  cry  of  the  abolitionist  had  never  penetrated. 
Among  Northern  women  it  both  extended  and 
intensified  anti-slavery  sentiment,  and  it  helped 
them  to  contemplate  the  coming  crisis  with 
equanimity  and  determination. 

Once  the  crisis  had  actually  been  reached, 

with  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  they  did  not 

need  any  incentive  other  than  love  of  country 

to  inspire  them  to  an  instantaneous  and  effect- 

[186] 


THE  STRUGGLE  OVER  SLAVERY 

ive  response.  Like  the  women  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  one  hundred  years  before,  they  bade 
their  husbands  and  sons  and  brothers  go  forth 
and  fight;  and,  having  started  them  on  the 
journey  from  which  so  many  were  never  to  re 
turn,  they  bravely  set  to  work,  in  a  thousand 
different  ways,  to  strengthen  and  sustain 
them. 


[187] 


CHAPTER  VI 

WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

THE  Reverend  Henry  W.  Bellows,  head  of 
the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission 
which  did  such  excellent  work  throughout  the 
Civil  War,  did  not  exaggerate  when  he  de 
clared  that  as  soon  as  a  resort  to  arms  became 
inevitable  there  was  no  more  general  uprising 
among  the  men  of  the  Northern  States  than 
among  the  women.  Soldiers'  aid  societies 
sprang  up  simultaneously  with  the  enlisting 
of  troops  in  every  city,  town,  and  village,  the 
distinction  of  having  been  the  first  to  organize 
for  systematic  work  in  behalf  of  the  army  fall 
ing  to  the  women  of  Bridgeport,  Connecticut, 
and  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  where,  on 
April  15,  1861,  the  day  on  which  the  President's 
[188] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

call  for  troops  was  issued,  the  women  of  those 
cities  formed  societies  for  the  purpose  of  afford 
ing  relief  and  comfort  to  the  volunteers. 

A  few  days  later  similar  societies  were  formed 
in  the  Ohio  city  of  Cleveland  and  in  Lowell, 
Massachusetts;  and  within  ten  days  after  the 
call  for  troops,  so  clearly  and  readily  was  the 
need  for  united  effort  appreciated,  the  Woman's 
Central  Association  of  Relief  was  organized  in 
New  York,  to  guide  and  supervise  the  labors  of 
all  local  aid  societies.  After  a  time  this  associ 
ation  became  subsidiary  to  the  Sanitary  Com 
mission,  with  branches  established  in  all  the 
larger  cities  and  managed  almost  without  ex 
ception  by  women.1  When  it  is  said  that  these 
branches  and  the  different  minor  organizations 


1  "  Among  the  numerous  and  devoted  women  who  labored 
in  the  forming  and  directing  of  these  auxiliaries,"  says  Doctor 
Bellows,  in  his  account  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  "  it 
may  be  allowed  without  invidiousness  to  name  Miss  May 
and  Miss  Stevenson  at  Boston,  Miss  Collins  and  Miss  Schuy- 
ler  at  New  York,  Mrs.  Grier  and  Mrs.  Moore  at  Philadelphia, 
Mrs.  Rouse  and  Miss  Brayton  at  Cleveland,  Miss  Campbell 
at  Detroit,  and  Mrs.  Hodge  and  Mrs.  Livermore  at  Chicago. 

[1891 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

collected  and  distributed  money  and  supplies 
amounting  in  value  to  more  than  fifty  million 
dollars,  the  magnitude  of  woman's  work  in  the 
Civil  War  will  be  better  understood. 

The  Sanitary  Commission  itself  was  essen 
tially  the  product  of  woman's  enterprise.  It 
was  established  by  the  Government  in  response 
to  a  petition  presented  by  a  committee  of  the 
Woman's  Central  Association  of  Relief,  the 
idea  being  to  maintain  careful  oversight  of 
the  health  of  the  United  States  forces  by 
means  of  "  a  scientific  board,  to  be  commissioned 
with  ample  powers  for  visiting  all  camps  and 
hospitals,  advising,  recommending,  and,  if 
need  be,  enforcing  the  best-known  and  most 
approved  sanitary  regulations  in  the  army." 
As  finally  organized,  it  became  the  great 
national  channel  through  which  the  women  of 
the  North  worked  with  the  Government  in 
v  promoting  the  war. 

Nothing  was  left  undone  to  achieve  its 
great  aim  of  maintaining  the  soldiers'  health. 
[1901 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

It  established  depots  for  the  receiving  of  sup 
plies  of  clothing,  medicine,  and  delicacies  for 
the  camps  and  hospitals,  and  for  forwarding 
them  promptly  to  the  points  where  they  were 
most  needed.  It  employed  experts  to  coop 
erate  with  the  regimental  surgeons  in  choosing 
sites  for  camps,  regulating  the  drainage,  and 
inspecting  the  cooking.  It  fitted  up  hospital 
steamers  on  the  Mississippi,  and  established 
a  system  of  soldiers'  refuges,  where  the  sick 
and  convalescent  would  receive  the  best  of 
care  on  their  way  home  from  the  front. 

Wherever  the  army  went,  officers  and  help 
ers  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  followed,  with 
wagons,  food,  medical  supplies,  and  nurses 
for  the  care  of  the  wounded.  Perhaps  its  most 
notable  service  in  the  field  was  rendered  after 
the  battle  of  Antietam,  when  the  train  carry 
ing  the  regular  medical  stores  of  the  army  was 
blocked  near  Baltimore.  For  four  days  the 
ten  thousand  wounded  at  this  great  battle 
had  as  their  only  means  of  relief  the  provisions 
[1911 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  whose  wagons 
were  quickly  on  the  battle-ground,  so  well 
equipped  that  they  were  able  to  provide  over 
twenty-eight  thousand  shirts,  towels,  pillows, 
etc.;  thirty  barrels  of  lint  and  bandages,  three 
thousand  pounds  of  farina,  two  thousand  pounds 
of  condensed  milk,  five  thousand  pounds  of 
beef  stock  and  canned  meats,  three  thousand 
bottles  of  wine,  several  tons  of  lemons,  and  an 
abundance  of  crackers,  tea,  sugar,  rubber  cloth, 
tin  cups,  and  other  necessaries.  In  the  whole 
course  of  the  war,  it  has  been  estimated,  the 
Sanitary  Commission  furnished  four  million 
five  hundred  thousand  meals  to  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers.  And  all  this,  bear  in  mind, 
was  rendered  possible  through  the  tireless 
devotion  of  the  women  of  the  Union. 

It  is  out  of  the  question  to  attempt  to  depict 
in  adequate  language  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
and  patriotism  that  animated  those  who,  work 
ing  in  groups  or  as  individuals,  contributed  so 
nobly  to  the  common  cause.  Many  a  woman, 
[192] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

obliged  to  toil  all  day  to  earn  her  livelihood, 
sat  up  until  late  into  the  night,  for  months 
together,  making  bandages  and  shirts  and  socks 
for  the  boys  in  blue.  Others  who  had  no  money 
to  contribute,  cheerfully  surrendered  precious 
heirlooms  to  swell  the  relief  fund.  In  numerous 
instances  women  denied  themselves  meat  and 
tea  and  sugar  in  order  to  be  able  to  give  some 
thing  to  the  army  —  something  that  might, 
who  could  tell,  save  a  wounded  soldier's  life, 
or  make  his  last  moments  comfortable. 

Even  the  aged  and  infirm  vied  in  generous 
rivalry  with  the  young  and  strong.  In  many 
barrels  of  hospital  clothing,  socks  were  found 
having  inscriptions  like  the  following:  ;<  The 
fortunate  owner  of  these  socks  is  secretly  in 
formed  that  they  are  the  one  hundred  and 
ninety-first  pair  knit  for  our  brave  boys  by 
Mrs.  Abner  Bartlett,  of  Medford,  Massachu 
setts,  now  aged  eighty-five  years."  A  home 
spun  blanket  was  ticketed:  "This  blanket 
was  carried  by  Milly  Aldrich,  who  is  ninety- 
[1931 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

three  years  old,  down-hill  and  up-hill,  one 
and  a  half  miles,  to  be  given  to  some  sol 
dier." 

Innumerable  anecdotes  might  be  related 
illustrative  of  this  universal  eagerness  to  do 
and  give  for  country's  sake.  In  a  lonely  and 
mountainous  New  England  farming  section 
lived  a  widow  and  two  daughters  who,  although 
desperately  poor,  were  resolved  that  nothing 
should  prevent  them  from  aiding  in  the  relief 
work.  They  learned  that  at  the  county-seat, 
twelve  miles  away,  a  depot  had  been  opened 
where  women  might  obtain  material  to  make 
into  hospital  clothing.  Borrowing  a  neighbor's 
horse,  they  drove  to  town  by  an  almost  im 
passable  road,  secured  some  cloth,  and  hastened 
home.  Two  weeks  later  they  were  back  for  a 
fresh  supply;  and  thus  they  came  and  went, 
regularly  once  a  fortnight.  Anxious  to  ascer 
tain  the  secret  of  their  zeal,  the  manager  of  the 
local  Relief  Association  drew  the  daughters 
aside  one  day  and  asked  them: 
[194] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

"  I  suppose  you  have  a  relative  in  the  war 
-  your  father,  or  a  brother?  " 

"  No,"  they  answered,  "  not  now.  Our  only 
brother  fell  at  Ball's  Bluff." 

*  Then,"  said  the  manager,  "  why  do  you 
feel  so  deep  an  interest  in  this  work?  " 

"  Our  country's  cause,"  came  the  reply, 
"  is  the  cause  of  God,  and  we  would  do  what 
we  can  for  His  sake." 

Another  impressive  incident,  made  public  by 
Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  of  the  Northwestern 
Branch  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  affords 
convincing  proof  of  the  determination  with 
which  women,  no  matter  how  unfavorably 
situated,  contrived  to  give  effect  to  their 
patriotic  impulse. 

"  Some  farmers'  wives  living  in  the  north 
of  Wisconsin,  eighteen  miles  from  a  railroad," 
said  Mrs.  Livermore,  in  telling  the  story,  "  had 
given  to  the  Commission  of  their  bed  and  table- 
linen,  their  husbands'  shirts  and  drawers,  their 
scanty  supply  of  dried  and  canned  fruits,  till 
[195] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

they  had  exhausted  their  ability  to  do  more  in 
this  direction.  Still  they  were  not  satisfied. 
So  they  cast  about  to  see  what  could  be  done 
in  another  way.  They  were  all  the  wives  of 
small  farmers,  lately  moved  to  the  West,  all 
living  in  log  cabins,  where  one  room  sufficed 
for  kitchen,  parlor,  laundry,  nursery,  and  bed 
room,  doing  their  own  housework,  sewing, 
baby-tending,  dairy-work,  and  all.  What  could 
they  do? 

"  They  were  not  long  in  devising  a  way  to 
gratify  the  longings  of  their  motherly  and 
patriotic  hearts,  and  instantly  set  about  carry 
ing  it  into  action.  They  resolved  to  beg  wheat 
of  the  neighboring  farmers,  and  convert  it 
into  money.  Sometimes  on  foot,  and  some 
times  with  a  team,  amid  the  snows  and  mud 
of  early  spring,  they  canvassed  the  country 
for  twenty  and  twenty-five  miles  around, 
everywhere  eloquently  pleading  the  needs  of 
the  blue-coated  soldier  boys  in  the  hospitals, 
their  eloquence  everywhere  acting  as  an  open 
[196] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

sesame  to  the  granaries.  Thus  they  labored 
till  they  had  accumulated  nearly  five  hundred 
bushels  of  wheat.  This  they  sent  to  market, 
obtained  the  highest  market-price  for  it,  and 
forwarded  the  proceeds  to  the  Commission. 
As  we  held  this  hard-earned  money  in  our  hands, 
we  felt  that  it  was  consecrated,  that  the  holy 
purpose  and  resolution  of  these  noble  women 
had  imparted  a  sacredness  to  it." 

The  holding  of  gigantic  fairs  was  another 
means  by  which  the  women  of  the  North  raised 
money  to  carry  on  relief  work  among  the  sol 
diers.  In  this  they  followed  the  example  set 
by  the  early  abolition  women,  particularly  of 
Boston  and  other  New  England  cities,  whose 
annual  "  anti-slavery  fairs "  are  memorable 
as  having  brought  to  America  many  articles 
that  had  never  before  been  imported  —  rare 
Honiton  laces,  magnificent  Paisley  shawls, 
fine  porcelain  figures,  costly  Swiss  carvings, 
and  much  else  contributed  by  foreign  sym 
pathizers.  But  where  the  "  anti-slavery  fairs  " 
[197] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

had  raised  one  dollar,  the  "  soldiers'  aid  fairs  " 
raised  a  hundred,  so  vast  was  the  scale  on 
which  they  were  conducted,  and  so  generous 
the  response. 

The  first  of  these  fairs  was  held  in  Chicago, 
where  the  women  of  that  city  hoped  to  raise 
by  it  a  contribution  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars.  The  proceeds  enabled  them  to  send 
to  the  Sanitary  Commission  three  times  that 
amount.  The  women  of  Cincinnati  at  once 
followed  with  a  fair  by  which  they  proposed 
to  raise  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
and  they  did  it.  More  than  a  million  dollars 
was  raised  by  fairs  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn, 
and  another  million  by  a  fair  in  Philadelphia. 
Altogether  upwards  of  five  million  dollars  was 
added  in  this  way  to  the  resources  of  the  San 
itary  Commission. 

Besides  the  fairs,  the  women  of  many  cities 

interested    themselves    in    the    establishment 

and    maintenance    of    soldiers'    hospitals    and 

"  homes,"  while  in  Philadelphia  a  unique  chan- 

[198] 


WOMAN'S  WORK   IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

nel  for  patriotic  enterprise  was  found  in  the 
so-called  "  refreshment  saloons,"  where  sol 
diers  passing  through  the  city  were  given  meals. 
There  were  two  of  these  saloons,  both  being 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  navy  yard,  and  whenever 
a  regiment  reached  Philadelphia  a  cannon  was 
fired.  At  the  signal,  whether  it  came  in  the 
daytime  or  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  scores  of 
women  hastened  to  the  saloons  to  prepare  and 
distribute  food.  More  than  six  hundred  thou 
sand  meals  were  served  at  one  saloon,  and  four 
hundred  thousand  at  the  other.  Both  had 
hospitals  attached  to  them  for  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers.  Mrs.  Eliza  Plummer,  a  widow  who 
turned  her  home  into  a  soldiers'  hospital,  Mrs. 
William  M.  Cooper,  Mrs.  Sarah  Ewing,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Vansdale,  Miss  Anna  M.  Ross,  Mrs. 
Mary  Wade,  Mrs.  Ellen  Lowry,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Boyer,  and  Mrs.  Priscilla  Grover  were  among 
the  women  most  prominent  in  this  work. 

The   manner   in   which   they   cared  for  the 
soldiers  who  came  to  their  "  saloons  "  is  quaintly 
[199] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

depicted  in  Doctor  James  Moore's  "  History 
of  the  Cooper  Shop  Volunteer  Refreshment 
Saloon,"  a  now  little  known  volume  published 
almost  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war: 

"  In  the  extensive  area  of  the  Cooper  Shop 
were  placed  six  tables,  of  which,  with  a  space 
between  their  ends,  but  in  a  continuous  line, 
three  ran  the  entire  length  of  the  saloon.  On 
the  left  side,  in  like  manner,  ran  two  tables 
two-thirds  the  length  of  the  saloon,  while  on 
the  right  of  the  entrance  was  a  table  for  the 
officers.  The  room  was  strictly  clean  and  tidy, 
and  every  article  shone  by  the  careful  hands  of 
the  active  housekeepers  who  ministered  to 
our  braves.  In  the  extensive  fire-place  was  a 
huge  boiler  for  preparing  the  coffee,  one  for 
boiling  hams,  etc.,  and  all  the  required  utensils 
of  the  culinary  art. 

"  While   the   vegetables   were   cooking,    and 

the  viands  preparing,  each  table  was  laid  with 

a  clean  white  linen  cloth,  on  which  were  arranged 

plates  of  white  stone  china,  mugs  of  the  same, 

[200] 


WOMAN'S   WORK   IN   THE  CIVIL  WAR 

knives  and  forks,  castors,  and  all  that  was  nec 
essary  to  table  use.  Bouquets  of  flowers,  the 
gifts  of  visitors,  were  frequently  added,  and 
lent  their  fragrance  to  the  savory  odors.  The 
bill  of  fare  consisted  of  the  best  the  market 
could  supply,  and  was  not,  in  the  articles 
provided,  inferior  to  that  of  any  hotel  in  the 
country.  At  all  meals  the  fare  was  abundant; 
consisting  of  ham,  corned  beef,  Bologna  sau 
sage,  bread  made  of  the  finest  wheat,  butter 
of  the  best  quality,  cheese,  pickles,  dried  beef, 
coffee  and  tea,  and  vegetables. 

4  The  ladies  were  always  in  attendance. 
The  viands  were  placed  in  dishes  on  a  side- 
table,  from  which  due  distribution  was  made. 
In  a  word,  when  all  was  ready,  the  commanding 
officer  being  notified,  the  men  formed  in  line 
at  the  ready  word  of  command,  and  the  hardy 
veterans,  whose  heroic  valor  never  hesitated 
to  obey  the  strictest  order,  marched,  in  all  the 
order  of  dress  parade,  to  the  well-supplied  table, 
and,  deploying  to  the  right  and  left,  took  their 
[2011 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

stand,  each  in  his  place,  before  the  table,  and 
partook  of  the  meal  so  invitingly  spread  before 
them. 

4  The  committee,  constantly  anticipating 
their  wants,  produced  a  fresh  supply  of  what 
ever  was  required,  and,  in  the  words  of  Homer, 
*  No  desire  was  unfulfilled  in  the  well-propor 
tioned  banquet.'  Meanwhile,  the  officers  at 
another  table  partook  of  the  fare  thus  pro 
vided.  The  renewed  vigor  imparted  by  timely 
nourishment  enabled  them  to  proceed  refreshed 
in  mind  and  body.  When  one  table  was  served, 
another  was  prepared,  and  none  were  sent 
away  empty." 

Then,  too,  there  was  the  noble  army  of 
nurses,  that  heroic  and  devoted  band  of  women 
who,  conquering  their  instinctive  horror  of 
warfare  and  bloodshed,  ministered  to  the 
stricken  soldier,  often  amid  the  thunderous 
crashing  of  shot  and  shell.  In  the  military 
hospital,  on  the  trains  and  boats  transporting 
the  wounded,  in  tents  by  the  side  of  the  road 
[202] 


WOMAN'S  WORK   IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

that  led  to  the  battle-field,  and  on  the  battle 
field  itself,  they  were  to  be  found  —  black- 
robed  and  gentle-faced  Sisters  of  Mercy,  daugh 
ters  of  the  rich  and  of  the  poor,  widows,  school 
teachers,  farmers'  wives  —  all  coming  together 
with  but  one  thought,  the  relief  of  suffering. 

It  was  difficult  work,  arduous,  dangerous 
work,  but  there  was  no  lack  of  volunteers. 
From  the  moment  the  Woman's  Central  As 
sociation  of  Relief  was  organized,  it  was  flooded 
by  hundreds  of  applications  from  women  eager 
to  serve.  The  difficulty  was  not  to  secure 
nurses,  but  to  select  only  those  best  fitted  to 
stand  the  terrific  strain  they  would  have  to 
undergo.  Confronted  by  this  problem,  the 
United  States  Government,  as  every  American 
woman  should  remember  with  a  thrill  of  pride, 
solved  it  by  entrusting  the  task  of  selection 
to  a  woman  —  Dorothea  L.  Dix. 

As  the  sequel  proved,  a  better  decision 
could  not  have  been  reached.  Miss  Dix  was 
a  keen  judge  of  human  nature,  and  a  woman 
[203] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

of  rare  executive  ability,  with  a  remarkable 
talent  for  mastering  details.  She  was  a  born 
philanthropist,  and  had  all  her  life  been  en 
gaged  in  good  works  for  the  sick,  the  suffering, 
and  the  oppressed,  with  results  perhaps  un- 
equaled  by  any  other  individual  reformer  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States.  While  still 
a  very  young  woman,  living  in  Boston,  a  con 
versation  which  she  chanced  to  overhear  in 
the  street  drew  her  attention  to  the  deplorable 
condition  of  the  convicts  in  the  State  prison 
at  Charlestown.  This  led  her  to  investigate 
Massachusetts'  public  institutions  in  general, 
and  she  discovered  such  urgent  need  for  re 
forms  that  she  set  herself  to  awaken  the  popular 
conscience  and  compel  the  legislature  to  enact 
laws  insuring  better  treatment  of  the  State's 
prisoners,  paupers,  and  insane.  Having  gained 
her  end  in  Massachusetts,  she  started  on  a 
similar  campaign  in  other  States,  touring  al 
most  the  entire  country,  visiting  prisons,  alms- 
houses,  and  asylums,  unsparingly  revealing 
[204] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

the  abuses  she  found,  and  bringing  about 
much  ameliorative  legislation. 

Her  reformative  zeal  even  carried  her  to 
foreign  parts.  In  Rome,  the  Pope  expressed 
his  admiration  and  gratitude  that  she,  "  a 
woman  and  a  Protestant,  had  crossed  the  seas 
to  call  his  attention  to  these  cruelly  ill-treated 
members  of  his  flock."  The  safeguarding  of 
the  lives  of  sailors  was  another  problem  that 
aroused  her  sympathetic  interest.  But,  outside 
of  her  labors  in  behalf  of  public  dependents, 
her  chief  activity  was  in  hospital  work.  She 
is  credited  with  having  founded  thirty-two 
hospitals,  besides  many,  including  two  in  Japan, 
that  indirectly  owed  their  inception  to  her  in 
fluence. 

In  the  hands  of  a  woman  like  Dorothea 
Dix.  the  United  States  Government  could  not 
but  feel  confident  that  the  needs  of  the  army 
would  be  well  looked  after;  and  from  the  be 
ginning  to  the  end  of  the  war  she  was  unre 
mitting  in  her  endeavor  to  place  the  nursing 
[205] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

of  the  soldiers  on  a  sound,  broad,  and  alto 
gether  sufficient  basis;  to  supervise  closely 
the  nurses  whom  she  appointed,  and  to  main 
tain  their  efficiency  and  enthusiasm. 

This  last,  however,  was  the  lightest  of  the 
many  burdens  that  she  willingly  assumed. 
Every  nurse  was  an  enthusiast,  from  "  Mother  " 
Bickerdyke,  Clara  Barton,  Amy  Bradley, 
Margaret  Breckinridge,  and  Helen  Gilson  to 
the  least  known  of  the  multitude  of  self-effacing 
heroines  who  risked  their  lives  in  fever-hospital 
or  on  the  firing-line.  Only  enthusiasm  of  the 
rarest,  highest,  noblest  type,  coupled  with  the 
loftiest  sense  of  duty,  could  have  sustained 
them  in  the  terrible  ordeals  through  which  they 
were  called  upon  to  pass. 

The  picture  of  "  Mother  "  Bickerdyke,  lan 
tern  in  hand,  groping  at  midnight  among  Fort 
Donelson's  dead,  on  the  chance  of  finding 
some  wounded  man  whom  she  could  succor, 
but  typifies  the  glorious  —  one  might  almost 
say,  divine  —  enthusiasm  that  pervaded  the 
[206] 


MOTHER"    BICKERDYKE. 
From  an  engraving. 
Page  207. 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

whole  body  of  nurses.  Many  of  them  sincerely 
felt,  indeed,  that  they  were  called  by  God  to 
their  task  of  alleviation,  as  is  impressively 
evidenced  by  a  tale  told  of  Mrs.  Bickerdyke. 
After  the  battle  of  Shiloh  she  managed,  though 
not  attached  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  to 
procure  some  supplies  from  its  stores,  and  at 
once  set  about  doing  everything  in  her  power 
for  the  relief  of  the  wounded.  Says  Mrs.  Liver- 
more,  the  narrator  of  the  incident: 

"  One  of  the  surgeons  found  her  wrapped  in 
the  gray  overcoat  of  a  Confederate  soldier, 
and  wearing  a  soft  slouch  hat,  having  lost  her 
inevitable  Shaker  bonnet.  Her  kettles  had 
been  set  up,  the  fire  kindled  underneath,  and 
she  was  dispensing  hot  soup,  tea,  crackers, 
whiskey  and  water,  and  other  refreshments  to 
the  shivering,  fainting,  wounded  men. 

"  *  Where  did  you  get  those  things? '  the 
surgeon  inquired.  '  And  under  whose  authority 
are  you  working?  ' 

"  She  paid  no  attention  to  his  interrogations, 
[2071 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

and  probably  did  not  hear  them,  so  completely 
absorbed  was  she  in  her  work  of  compassion. 

"  Watching  her  with  admiration  for  her 
varied  skill  —  for  she  not  only  fed  the  wounded 
men,  but  temporarily  dressed  their  wounds 
in  some  cases  —  he  questioned  her  again: 

"  '  Madam,  you  seem  to  combine  in  your 
self  a  sick-diet  kitchen  and  a  medical  staff. 
May  I  inquire  under  whose  authority  you  are 
working?  ' 

*  Without  pausing  in  her  work,  she  replied : 
'  I  have  received  my  authority  from  the 
Lord    God    Almighty.      Have    you    anything 
that  ranks  higher  than  that?  ' 

Many  a  nurse  —  and  notably  "  Mother  " 
Bickerdyke,  who  was  present  at  nineteen 
battles  —  moved  among  the  fallen,  dressing 
wounds  and  assisting  at  amputations,  while 
the  storm  of  conflict  was  still  raging  with  un- 
diminished  stress.  It  was  thus  with  Clara 
Barton,  who  equipped  a  hospital-train  to 
follow  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  served 
[208] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

with  the  surgeons  on  the  battle-field  of  Antie- 
tam  —  when,  as  said  above,  ten  thousand 
wounded  soldiers  were  for  four  days  cared  for 
by  the  agents  of  the  Sanitary  Commission. 
After  Antietam  Miss  Barton  continued  with 
the  army  almost  throughout  the  campaign 
which  culminated  so  disastrously  at  Fredericks- 
burg. 

In  the  same  campaign  was  Helen  Gilson, 
who  had  been  rejected  by  Miss  Dix  on  account 
of  her  youth,  but  nevertheless  managed  to 
get  to  the  front  and  soon  won  recognition  as 
a  daring  and  capable  nurse.  She  was  on  the 
field  at  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors ville,  and 
Gettysburg,  and  crowned  her  labors  by  faithful 
service  under  Grant  in  the  long  and  bloody 
campaign  from  the  Rapidan  to  Petersburg  and 
Richmond.  It  was  Miss  Gilson*to  whom  Doctor 
Bellows  referred  when,  describing  his  experi 
ences  at  Gettysburg,  he  said: 

"  I  went  out  to  the  field  hospital  of  the  Third 
Corps,  where  two  thousand  four  hundred  men 
[209] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

lay  in  their  tents,  a  vast  army  of  mutilated 
humanity.  One  woman,  young  and  fair,  but 
grave  and  earnest,  clothed  in  purity  and  mercy 
-  the  only  woman  in  that  whole  vast  camp  — 
moved  in  and  out  of  the  hospital  tents,  speaking 
some  tender  word,  giving  some  restoring  cordial, 
holding  the  hand  of  a  dying  boy,  or  receiving 
the  last  words  of  a  husband  for  his  widowed 
wife.  I  can  never  forget  how,  amid  scenes 
which  under  ordinary  circumstances  no  woman 
could  have  appeared  in  without  gross  inde 
corum,  the  holy  pity  and  purity  of  this  angel 
of  mercy  made  her  presence  seem  as  fit  as  though 
she  had  indeed  dropped  out  of  Heaven.  The 
men  themselves,  sick  or  well,  seemed  awed  and 
purified  by  such  a  resident  among  them." 

There  was  scarcely  another  nurse  so  beloved 
by  the  soldiers,  and  the  secret  of  her  popularity 
is  plainly  indicated  in  a  brief  but  telling  word- 
picture  drawn  by  Doctor  W.  H.  Reed,  one  of 
the  Sanitary  Commission's  physicians.  It 
describes  his  first  meeting  with  Miss  Gilson, 
[210] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

at  Fredericksburg,  in  May,  1864,  when  that 
city  was  the  place  to  which  the  wounded  were 
brought  for  treatment  before  being  sent  to  the 
hospitals  at  Washington  and  Baltimore.  Doc 
tor  Reed  writes  as  follows: 

"  One  afternoon,  when  the  atmosphere  of 
our  rooms  was  close  and  foul,  and  all  were  long 
ing  for  a  breath  of  our  cooler  Northern  air, 
while  the  men  were  moaning  in  pain,  or  were 
restless  with  fever,  and  our  hearts  were  sick 
with  pity  for  the  sufferers,  I  heard  a  light  step 
upon  the  stairs;  and,  looking  up,  I  saw  a 
young  lady  enter,  who  brought  with  her  such 
an  atmosphere  of  calm  and  cheerful  courage, 
so  much  freshness,  such  an  expression  of  gentle, 
womanly  sympathy,  that  her  mere  presence 
seemed  to  revive  the  drooping  spirits  of  the 
men,  and  to  give  a  new  power  of  endurance 
through  the  long  and  painful  hours  of  suffering. 
First  with  one,  then  at  the  side  of  another,  a 
friendly  word  here,  a  gentle  nod  and  smile 
there,  a  tender  sympathy  with  each  prostrate 
[211] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

sufferer,  a  sympathy  which  could  read  in  his 
eyes  his  longing  for  home  love,  and  for  the  pres 
ence  of  some  absent  one  —  in  those  few  minutes 
hers  was  indeed  an  angel  ministry. 

"  Before  she  left  the  room  she  sang  to  them, 
first  some  stirring  national  melody,  then  some 
sonnet  or  plaintive  hymn  to  strengthen  the 
fainting  heart;  and  I  remember  how  the  notes 
penetrated  to  every  part  of  the  building. 
Soldiers  with  less  severe  wounds,  from  the 
rooms  above,  began  to  crawl  out  into  the  entries, 
and  men  from  below  crept  up  on  their  hands 
and  knees,  to  catch  every  note,  and  to  receive 
the  benediction  of  her  presence  —  for  such  it 
was  to  them.  Then  she  went  away.  I  did  not 
know  who  she  was,  but  I  was  as  much  moved 
and  melted  as  any  soldier  of  them  all.  This 
is  my  first  reminiscence  of  Helen  L.  Gilson." 

Bearing  in  mind  that  Doctor  Reed   wrote 

of  a  period  when  Miss  Gilson  had  been  working 

for  the  soldiers  for  more  than  two  years,  and 

most  of  the  time  under  the  strenuous  conditions 

[2121 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

of  active  campaigning,  it  becomes  possible 
to  appreciate  the  devotion  and  wonderful 
powers  of  endurance  and  self-mastery  which  she 
displayed.  Yet,  after  all,  hers  was  not  an  ex 
ceptional  case.  Not  a  few  army  nurses,  to 
be  sure,  like  Margaret  Breckinridge  and  Ara 
bella  Barlow,  succumbed  to  the  fearful  strain 
put  upon  them,  and,  no  less  truly  than  the 
soldiers  who  perished  in  the  trenches  and  on  the 
field,  gave  their  lives  for  their  country.  But 
there  were  many  —  notable  among  whom  were 
Miss  Dix  and  Miss  Barton,  of  whose  splendid 
record  in  Red  Cross  work  the  world  is  well 
aware  —  who  not  only  served  through  the 
war  without  any  impairment  of  either  their 
zeal  or  their  strength,  but  continued  to  busy 
themselves  for  years  afterwards  in  labors 
scarcely  less  exacting  and  no  less  valuable  to 
the  nation. 

The  same  is  true  of  Julia  Ward  Howe,  who 
shortly  before  her  death  two  years  ago  was 
reverently  acclaimed  "  the  most  distinguished 
[2131 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

woman  in  the  United  States,"  and  whose 
unique  contribution  to  the  Union  cause  —  her 
immortal  "  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  " 
will  always  be  reckoned  among  the  noblest 
songs  of  American  patriotism.  It  was  written 
in  the  autumn  of  1861,  during  a  visit  to  Wash 
ington.  While  there  Mrs.  Howe,  with  a  party 
of  friends,  attended  a  review  of  Northern 
troops  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac, 
and  chanced  to  witness  a  sudden  attack  by  the 
enemy,  thus  getting  a  glimpse  of  real  warfare. 
On  the  way  back  to  the  capital  the  party 
sang  a  number  of  war  songs,  including  "  John 
Brown's  Body,"  and  one  of  them  remarked 
how  much  better  the  tune  of  that  song  was 
than  the  words.  Mrs.  Howe,  under  the  in 
spiration  of  what  she  had  seen  that  afternoon, 
determined  to  write  something  of  her  own 
that  would  be  more  appropriate  to  the  stirring 
melody;  and  that  same  night  the  "  Battle 
Hymn "  was  composed,  with  its  wonderful 
lines : 

[214] 


JULIA    WARD    HOWE    IN    1865 

From  a  photograph. 

Page  214. 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

"  Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord: 
He  is  trampling  out  the  vintage  where  the  grapes  of  wrath 

are  stored; 
He  hath  loosed  the  fateful  lightning  of  His  terrible  swift 

sword: 

His  truth  is  marching  on. 

"  I  have  seen  Him  in  the  watch-fires  of  a  hundred  circling 

camps; 
They  have  builded  Him  an  altar  in  the  evening  dews  and 

damps; 
I  have  read  His  righteous  sentence  by  the  dim  and  flaring 

lamps. 

His  day  is  marching  on. 

"  I  have  read  a  fiery  gospel,  writ  in  burnished  rows  of  steel : 
'  As  ye  deal  with  my  contemners,  so  with  you  my  grace 

shall  deal; 
Let  the  Hero,  born  of  woman,  crush  the  serpent  with  his 

heel, 

Since  God  is  marching  on.' 

"  He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never  call 

retreat; 

He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  His  judgment- 
seat: 

Oh!  be  swift,  my  soul,  to  answer  Him!  be  jubilant,  my  feet! 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 
[2151 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

"  In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies  Christ  was  born  across  the  sea, 
With  a  glory  in  His  bosom  that  transfigures  you  and  me; 
As  He  died  to  make  men  holy,  let  us  die  to  make  men  free, 
While  God  is  marching  on." 

Finally,  to  complete  the  record  of  woman's 
patriotism,  self-sacrifice,  and  heroism  in  the 
colossal  conflict  of  the  sixties,  something  must 
be  said  of  the  manner  in  which  the  women  of 
the  South  responded  to  what  was  to  them  fully 
as  much  as  to  the  women  of  the  North,  a  clarion 
call  to  their  best  endeavors.  Nothing  could 
be  farther  from  the  truth  than  to  imagine,  as 
some  writers  on  the  Civil  War  seem  to  have 
imagined,  that  they  contented  themselves  with 
waving  dainty  handkerchiefs  at  the  marching 
men  in  gray,  and  then  sat  idly  down  to  await 
the  outcome.  They  could  not  have  done  this 
had  they  wished  —  for  it  was  at  their  doors 
that  the  war  was  fought  —  and  there  was  not 
a  woman  among  them  who  did  so  wish.  From 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  old  Southern 
aristocracy  to  the  girl  in  calico  of  the  strag- 
[2161 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

gling  mountain  settlements,  they  gave  them 
selves  with  one  accord  to  the  task  of  aiding 
their  army  by  every  means  at  their  com 
mand. 

To  them,  in  truth,  the  torments  and  horrors 
of  the  war  were  brought  home  with  far  more 
immediate  force  than  to  their  Northern  sisters. 
The  husband  or  son  to  whom  in  the  morning 
they  gave  a  fond  adieu  might  ere  night  be  car 
ried  to  them  stark  and  cold  in  death.  They 
themselves,  during  the  long  sieges,  were  con 
stantly  exposed  to  the  perils  of  the  bombard 
ment.  In  the  last  stages  of  the  war  they  were 
on  the  verge  of  starvation,  and  many  actually 
perished  for  want  of  food.  Yet  all  the  time 
they  kept  up  a  brave  heart,  held  back  the  tears 
of  bitterness  and  bereavement,  and,  even  when 
their  resources  were  lowest,  nobly  strove,  just 
as  the  Northern  women  were  striving,  to  sup 
port  and  comfort  and  relieve  their  soldier 
boys. 

All  over  the  South  soldiers'  aid  societies 
[2171 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

were  formed  similar  to  those  of  the  North,  an 
imated  by  the  same  enthusiasm,  though  pre 
vented  by  circumstances  from  accomplishing 
as  much  in  the  way  of  concrete  results.  There 
was  no  sacrifice  which  they  were  unwilling 
to  make  for  the  Confederacy  and  for  the  Con 
federacy's  soldiers. 

''  When  war  raised  a  loud  cry  for  need," 
exclaimed  John  Dimitry,  in  an  eloquent  tribute 
to  the  women  of  Louisiana,  "  Beauregard  was 
calling  upon  his  sisters  who  spoke  ^French  and 
his  other  sisters  who  spoke  English  to  send 
him  metal  for  his  guns.  Quick  to  the  melter 
and  blacksmith's  forge!  Are  these  your  fretted 
brass  candelabra,  madame?  Brought  across 
seas,  and  handed  down  from  one  generation 
to  the  next,  you  say?  What  of  that?  Beaure 
gard  calls,  his  need  will  not  brook  delay.  This 
tall,  slender,  lily-cupped  candlestick,  too,  in 
the  young  girl's  chamber,  let  it  be  brought 
out!  Arid  those  massive  polished  andirons 
Dorcas  has  been  so  proud  of.  Take  down  the 
[2181 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

metal  bell  that  rings  the  plantation   signals. 
Look  well  around  !  "  1 

In  Virginia,  in  the  Carolinas,  in  Georgia, 
and  Alabama,  and  Tennessee  it  was  the  same. 
What  can  we  do  for  the  army?  As  in  the  North, 
women  hurried  to  the  front  to  tend  the  wounded, 
or  labored  in  hastily  improvised  hospitals 
created  over  night  in  private  homes,  hotels, 
and  warehouses.  Mrs.  Roger  A.  Pry  or,  in 
her  "  Reminiscences  of  Peace  and  War,"  which 
should  be  read  by  all  who  would  know  some 
thing  of  what  the  women  of  the  South  suffered 
and  achieved,  has  drawn  graphic  pictures  of 
scenes  in  one  of  these  temporary  hospitals 
in  Richmond,  where  the  fairest  and  proudest  of 
the  daughters  of  the  Old  Dominion  performed 
cheerfully  the  most  menial  and  repellent  tasks. 
On  the  battle-field,  whether  in  attendance  as 
volunteer  nurses,  or  caught  unawares  like  old 
Allie  McPeek,  they  could  always  be  relied 

1  In  General  C.  A.  Evan's  "  Confederate  Military  History," 
vol.  x,  pp.  285-286. 

[219] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

upon  to  render  cool,  unterrified  service.  The 
story  of  Allie  McPeek  1  admirably  illustrates 
the  spirit  shared  by  all  of  high  or  low 
degree. 

She  was  a  poor  widow  living  on  a  little  farm 
two  miles  from  Jonesboro,  Georgia.  When  the 
armies  of  Schofield  and  Hardee  fought  the 
battle  of  Jonesboro,  in  September,  1864,  her 
house  was  for  two  days  under  fire.  According 
as  the  fortunes  of  war  changed,  it  would  be 
for  a  time  within  the  lines  of  the  Union 
troops,  then  within  those  of  the  Confederates, 
and  at  times  directly  between  both.  Yet  all 
the  while  she  remained  in  her  ruined  home, 
converting  it  into  a  hospital,  and  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  regardless  of  her  danger,  kept 
hard  at  work  helping  the  surgeons  of  both 
armies. 

So  nobly  did  she  bear  herself  that  when  the 
battle  was  over  General  Schofield,  of  the  vic- 

1  Southern  Historical  Society's  "  Papers,"  vol.  xxiii,  pp. 
328-329. 

[220] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

torious  Northern  army,  sent  her  a  large  wagon- 
load  of  provisions,  together  with  a  long  and 
touching  letter  of  thanks  and  a  promise  that 
if,  after  the  war,  she  presented  his  letter  to 
the  United  States  Government  she  would  be 
compensated  for  her  losses.  Uncle  Sam,  it 
is  good  to  know,  redeemed  his  general's  pledge, 
rejoicing  the  heart  of  old  Allie  McPeek  with 
a  check  for  six  hundred  dollars. 

Then  there  was  the  Tennessee  mother  who 
gave  five  sons  to  the  Confederacy,  and  who, 
when  Bishop  Polk  was  endeavoring  to  console 
her  for  the  loss  of  the  first  to  be  slain,  looked 
him  in  the  eye  without  a  tear,  and  bravely 
said: 

"  My  son  Billy  will  be  old  enough  next 
spring  to  take  his  brother's  place." 

Of  still  greater  pathos  is  the  story  told  by 
Mrs.  John  R.  Eggleston,  concerning  a  friend 
of  hers,  a  widow,  whose  two  sons,  her  only 
support,  fell  in  the  hopeless  struggle. 

"  Both  my  boys  are  gone,"  said  she,  "  but 
[221] 


WOMAN    IN   THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

if  I  had  to  do  all  this  over  again,  I  would  not 
act  differently." 

The  famous  "  Mother "  Bickerdyke  had 
her  counterpart  in  the  South  in  Mrs.  Sallie 
Chapman  Law,  born  in  the  Yadkin  River  sec 
tion  of  North  Carolina,  which  has  given  so 
many  great-hearted  men  and  women  to  the 
making  of  America.  When  the  war  broke  out, 
she  was  living  in  Memphis,  where  she  became 
an  active  worker  in  hospitals;  and  when  noth 
ing  more  could  be  done  in  Memphis,  she  went 
through  the  lines  to  labor  'mid  the  cannon 
smoke.  It  was  not  without  reason  that  Gen 
eral  Joseph  E.  Johnston  once  paraded  thirty 
thousand  of  his  weary  and  tattered  veterans 
in  a  review  given  in  her  honor. 

Mrs.  Newsom,  of  Arkansas,  was  another 
devoted  Southern  nurse,  a  lady  who  "  surren 
dered  all  the  comforts  of  home  to  do  what  she 
could  for  the  suffering  of  our  army."  So  was 
Kate  Cumming,  of  Mobile,  whose  brother 
was  in  battle  while  she  was  nursing  the  wounded 
[222] 


WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

at  Corinth.  This  lady  has,  in  fact,  left  a  most 
informative  record  of  her  war-time  experiences, 
in  her  "  Journal  of  Hospital  Life  in  the  Confed 
erate  Army  of  the  Tennessee,"  a  book  that 
vividly,  if  fragmentarily,  reveals  the  tremen 
dous  handicaps  under  which  the  daughters  of 
the  Confederacy  performed  their  self-imposed 
duties  as  nurses,  and  the  courage  with  which 
they  faced  the  dangers  to  which  they  found 
themselves  from  time  to  time  exposed. 

Thus,  North  and  South  the  story  is  the  same 

-  a  record  of  quiet  and  unostentatious,  but 

glorious  and  sublime,  self-sacrificing  heroism. 


[223] 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   WOMEN   OF   TO  -  DAY 

IMPRESSIVE  and  often  thrilling  as  has 
been  the  story  of  woman's  work  and  influ 
ence  in  past  epochs  of  American  history,  it 
is  safe  to  say  that  never  has  she  played  a  more 
important  part  than  she  is  playing  to-day. 
Within  the  space  of  a  comparatively  few  years 
she  has  extended  her  activities  in  directions 
and  to  a  degree  undreamed  by  the  noble  matrons 
and  maids  who  in  former  times  presented  such 
inspiring  examples  to  their  own  and  future 
generations.  In  all  walks  of  life  —  in  business,  in 
professional  pursuits,  in  the  arts  —  the  American 
woman  is  more  numerously  and  conspicuously 
represented  than  ever  before.  Nor  has  she 
thereby  lost  any  of  the  distinctive  charms  of 
her  womanliness,  or  in  any  way  weakened  her 
1224] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

claim  on  our  affection,  esteem,  admiration, 
and  gratitude. 

With  increased  freedom  for  individual  self- 
expression  she  has  gained,  and  taken  advan 
tage  of,  increased  power  to  make  her  collective 
influence  felt  for  good  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
Nothing  is  more  significant  in  this  connection 
than  the  growth  of  the  so-called  "  woman's 
club,"  which  has  been  the  subject  of  so  much 
ill-natured  and  ill-advised  criticism.  It  has 
been  charged  that  the  club  movement  among 
women  involved  neglect  of  home  duties,  would 
increase  frivolity,  and  meant  the  ultimate  dis 
ruption  of  family  life.  However  well-grounded 
these  objections  may  be  in  the  case  of  other 
countries,  they  are  glaringly  erroneous  when 
applied  to  the  United  States.  Here  the  woman's 
club  has  developed  into  a  most  valuable  and 
powerful  instrument  for  social  betterment. 

Its  remote  origin,  as  was  said  in  the  opening 
chapter,  may  with  some  reason  be  traced  to  the 
meetings  of  those  early  Puritan  women  who 
[225] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

used  to  assemble  at  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson's 
home  in  seventeenth-century  Boston  and  dis 
cuss  theological  and  other  burning  questions 
of  the  day.  But  it  was  not  until  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  that  women's  clubs 
in  the  modern  sense  began  to  make  their  ap 
pearance  with  the  organization  of  the  Ladies' 
Library  Society,  of  Kalamazoo,  Michigan, 
and  the  Minerva  Club,  of  New  Harmony, 
Indiana,  the  establishment  of  which  speaks 
volumes  for  the  progressiveness  of  the  women 
of  the  Middle  West. 

Any  immediate  extension  of  the  movement 
thus  set  on  foot  was  prevented  by  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War.  Nevertheless,  the  woman's 
club  indirectly  gained  greatly  from  that  tre 
mendous  conflict.  The  notable  services  ren 
dered  by  the  Sanitary  Commission  and  its 
subsidiary  soldiers'  aid  societies,  went  far  to 
remove  long-standing  prejudices  against  the 
participation  of  women  in  public  affairs,  and 
at  the  same  time  helped  women  to  realize  the 
[226] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

progress  they  might  hope  to  achieve  by  organ 
ized  cooperation.  There  had  long  been  a  grow-* 
ing  sentiment  that  the  laws  and  customs  of 
the  country  worked  to  the  disadvantage  of 
women,  and  after  the  Civil  War  this  sentiment 
crystallized  and  found  expression,  on  the  one 
hand  in  an  "  equal  suffrage  "  movement,  and 
on  the  other  in  the  "  club  "  movement,  which 
was  definitely  launched  in  1868  by  the  founding, 
almost  simultaneously,  of  the  New  England 
Woman's  Club  and  the  oddly  named  Sorosis. 
The  former  owed  its  inception  largely  to 
the  genius  of  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  who 
had  even  then  attained  international  reputa 
tion,  not  only  as  the  author  of  the  "  Battle 
Hymn  of  the  Republic  "  but  also  as  a  zealous 
humanitarian.  Only  the  previous  year  she 
and  her  husband,  the  great-hearted  Doctor 
Samuel  G.  Howe,  had  won  the  warm  gratitude 
of  the  people  of  Greece  for  visiting  them  and 
aiding  them  in  their  struggle  for  national  in 
dependence.  Under  the  influence  of  Mrs. 
[227] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Howe  and  her  associates  —  who  included  such 
well-known  women  as  Mrs.  Lucy  Stone,  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Livermore,  and  Mrs.  Edna  P.  Cheney 
—  the  idea  of  social  service  was  from  the  first 
a  leading  principle  in  the  New  England  Woman's 
Club.  Besides  providing  literary  programmes 
for  the  entertainment  and  cultural  develop 
ment  of  its  members,  it  struck  out  along  phil 
anthropic  lines,  establishing  a  free  employ 
ment  bureau  and  a  horticultural  school  for 
girls. 

In  connection  with  the  founding  of  Sorosis, 
an  interesting  story  is  told.  When  Charles 
Dickens  made  his  second  American  visit,  in 
1867-1868,  he  was  given  a  banquet  by  the  Press 
Club  of  New  York.  Mrs.  Jane  Cunningham 
Croly,  the  brilliant  newspaper  woman  whose 
writings  under  the  pseudonym  of  "  Jennie 
June "  have  delighted  so  many  thousands 
of  readers,  was  at  the  time  a  member  of  the 
editorial  staff  of  the  World,  and  it  seemed  to 
her  only  right  and  fitting  that  she  should 
[228] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

attend  the  Press  Club's  banquet,  Her  applica 
tion  for  a  ticket  met  with  a  prompt  refusal, 
on  the  score  of  her  sex. 

Greatly  disappointed,  and  not  a  little  in 
censed,  Mrs.  Croly  invited  a  number  of  her 
friends  —  among  whom  were  Mrs.  Charlotte 
B.  Wilbour,  Mrs.  Eliza  Botta,  Kate  Field,  and 
Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary  —  to  meet  at  her  home 
and  discuss  the  formation  of  a  club  exclusively 
for  women.  The  result  of  their  meeting  was 
the  birth  of  Sorosis,  in  March,  1868,  with  Alice 
Cary  as  its  first  president. 

There  were  only  twelve  charter  members, 
but  before  the  year  was  out,  Sorosis  had  grown 
remarkably  both  in  numbers  and  influence. 
Other  women  in  other  cities  began  to  organize, 
some  along  the  lines  of  the  New  England 
Woman's  Club,  but  more  taking  the  pioneer 
New  York  club  as  their  model.  According  to 
a  clubwoman  of  wide  experience,  Helen  M. 
Winslow,  "  no  other  club  in  the  country  has 
been  so  much  copied,  imitated,  and  envied  as 
[229] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF  AMERICA 

the  first  and  famous  Sorosis."  Interest  in  the 
club  movement  was  intensified  by  the  meeting 
of  a  Congress  of  Women,  convened  in  New  York 
in  1869,  in  response  to  a  call  from  Mrs.  Croly. 
Four  years  later,  and  again  mainly  on  the  in 
itiative  of  Mrs.  Croly,  the  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Women  was  founded,  under 
the  presidency  of  Mrs.  Livermore,  who  was 
afterward  succeeded  by  Mrs.  Howe.  Than 
these  three  women  —  Mrs.  Croly,  Mrs.  Howe, 
and  Mrs.  Livermore  —  none  deserve  greater 
credit  as  constructive  pioneers  in  promoting 
the  interests  and  extending  the  influence  of 
the  women  of  present-day  America. 

Naturally  enough,  while  many  of  the  women's 
clubs  followed  the  example  of  the  New  England 
organization  and  embarked  in  various  phil 
anthropic  enterprises,  their  chief  concern  at 
first  was  to  benefit  their  individual  members 
and  to  secure  greater  freedom  of  action  for 
women  in  general.  But  as  time  brought  with 
it  increased  recognition  of  "  woman's  rights," 
[230] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

they  became  decreasingly  self -centered.  They 
acquired,  so  to  speak,  a  "  community  conscious 
ness,"  and  began  to  attack  problems  of  impor 
tance  to  them  not  only  as  women  and  mothers, 
but  as  residents  of  the  cities  and  towns  in  which 
they  made  their  homes. 

They  undertook,  for  example,  to  study  the 
conditions  of  life  among  the  poor,  and  to  agitate 
for  sanitary  and  other  reforms  that  would  pro 
mote  the  health,  happiness,  and  efficiency  of 
slum  dwellers.  ,  They  established  and  aided 
educational  institutions  of  all  sorts  —  public 
libraries,  schools  of  domestic  science,  manual- 
training  schools,  kindergartens.  Some  laid 
stress  on  the  need  for  reforms  in  municipal 
government  and  administration.  Others  be 
came  busy  hives  of  cooperative  industry,  a 
most  impressive  illustration  being  found  in  the 
work  of  the  Woman's  Educational  and  Indus 
trial  Union,  a  Boston  organization  which  was 
founded  in  the  eighties,  to-day  boasts  a  mem 
bership  of  three  thousand,  and  annually  ex- 
[2311 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

pends  forty  thousand  dollars  in  helping  the 
poor  to  help  themselves. 

The  next  and  inevitable  step  was  a  union 
of  the  different  clubs  scattered  in  all  parts  of 
the  United  States.  This  was  foreshadowed 
in  1889,  when  a  few  literary  clubs,  in  response 
to  a  call  from  Sorosis,  federated  with  one  an 
other.  In  the  following  year,  likewise  on  the 
invitation  of  Sorosis  —  and  Mrs.  Croly  - 
delegates  met  in  New  York  to  form  what 
has  since  become  of  nation-wide  importance 
as  the  General  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs. 

Beginning  with  a  membership  of  less  than 
one  hundred  clubs,  it  has  grown  until,  after 
an  interval  of  not  yet  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
it  comprises  over  five  thousand  clubs,  with  a 
total  membership  of  four  hundred  thousand 
women.  Add  to  these  the  members  of  organ 
izations  independent  of,  but  affiliated  with, 
the  General  Federation  —  such  as  the  Inter 
national  Sunshine  Society,  the  Woman's  Out- 
[232] 


THE   WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

door  Art  League  of  the  American  Civic  As 
sociation,  the  National  Society  of  New  England 
Women,  and  the  Woman's  National  Press 
Association  —  and  we  have  an  army  of  more 
than  a  million  well-organized,  well-directed, 
and  enthusiastic  women  whose  watchwords 
are  "  The  Home,  Patriotism,  and  Good 
Government." 

The  presence  of  such  an  army  is  in  itself 
a  guarantee  of  a  happy  future  for  the  land  in 
which  we  dwell.  All  over  the  country  the  club 
women  are  waging  a  great  battle  for  social 
progress.  They  are  fighting  vice  and  crime, 
ignorance  and  disease;  they  are  demanding 
humane  legislation  to  protect  the  weak  and 
lowly;  they  make  no  compromise  with  greed, 
brutality,  or  injustice;  everywhere  they  are 
carrying  on  a  great  educational  campaign  to 
promote  a  higher  cultural  development,  a 
livelier  civic  sense,  and  a  loftier  morality  in 
the  individual  and  in  the  nation.  Their  out 
look  is  in  no  way  restricted.  They  labor  for 
[233] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

the  welfare  not  only  of  the  people  of  their  own 
day  but  of  generations  yet  unborn. 

"  Except  in  the  United  States  Congress," 
emphatically  asserts  Josiah  Strong,  president 
of  the  American  Institute  for  Social  Service, 
"  I  know  of  no  body  of  men  or  women  represent 
ing  so  much  of  intellect  and  heart,  so  much  of 
culture  and  influence,  and  so  many  of  the 
highest  hopes  and  noblest  possibilities  of  the 
American  people  as  the  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs." 

Similar  testimony  comes  from  Ben.  B.  Lind- 
sey,  the  Colorado  man  who  has  made  such  a 
splendid  record  as  judge  of  the  juvenile  court 
in  Denver.  "  For  the  past  few  years,"  he  says, 
"  I  have  been  actively  engaged  in  the  interest  of 
better  laws  for  the  protection  of  the  home  and 
the  children.  In  this  behalf  I  have  visited  some 
twenty  States.  I  have  found  wonderful  prog 
ress,  and  scarcely  without  exception  it  has  been 
the  members  of  the  women's  clubs  who  have 
championed  every  good  law  and  secured  the 
[234] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

passage  of  nearly  all  the  advanced  legislation 
upon  the  statute  books  for  the  protection  of 
the  home  and  the  children." 

"  It  would  take  a  volume  to  give  you  ade 
quately  a  small  portion  of  what  I  know  as  to 
the  beneficence  of  activities  of  women  in  con 
nection  with  American  Civic  Association  work 
and  kindred  work,"  writes  J.  Horace  McFar- 
land,  president  of  the  American  Civic  Associa 
tion,  in  a  letter  to  the  author.  "  Some  things 
they  do  so  exceptionally  well  that  I  do  not  see 
how  the  work  could  be  done  without  them. 
I  have  said  a  great  many  times  on  the  platform, 
in  answering  calls  from  communities  for  ad 
dresses  intended  to  get  those  communities 
started  in  practical  work  for  better  living  con 
ditions,  that  I  did  not  know  of  a  successful 
regenerative  movement  that  was  not  inspired 
or  underwritten  by  the  women  of  the  com 
munity." 

The  facts  bear  out  these  glowing  tributes. 
To  give  a  notable  instance,  the  organized 
[235] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

pressure  brought  to  bear  by  clubwomen  was 
a  potent  factor  in  effecting  the  sorely  needed 
reform  embodied  in  the  Pure  Food  Law  of 
1906.  The  General  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs  declared  for  its  enactment,  as  did  the 
State  Federations  in  the  General  Federation 
and  individual  clubs  in  the  State  Federations. 
Committees  were  appointed  for  the  express 
purpose  of  educating  public  opinion  to  the  im 
portance  of  the  proposed  law  and  persuading 
reluctant  Congressmen  to  vote  the  right  way. 
In  the  opinion  of  many  good  judges,  the  influ 
ence  thus  exercised  was  absolutely  decisive. 
And  even  to-day,  six  years  after  the  victory 
has  been  won,  the  pure  food  committees  of 
the  General  and  State  Federations  are  hard 
at  work,  determined  that  there  shall  be  no 
evasion  of  the  law,  and  agitating  for  further 
reforms,  particularly  in  the  way  of  improving 
the  milk  supply  and  improving  sanitary  con 
ditions  in  markets  and  provision  stores. 

Similarly,  the  clubwomen  have  thrown  them- 
[236] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

selves  heart  and  soul  into  the  movement  now 
under  way  for  the  conservation  of  America's 
natural  resources  and  scenic  assets.  The  saving 
of  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson  River  was  chiefly 
due  to  the  energetic  action  of  women's  clubs 
in  New  Jersey.  The  famous  cliff  dwellings  of 
Colorado  would  have  been  lost  to  the  nation 
had  it  not  been  for  the  beneficent  activity  of 
a  number  of  Colorado  women  who  organized 
a  Colorado  Cliff  Dwellings  Association,  gained 
the  support  of  the  General  Federation  of  Wom 
en's  Clubs,  and  instituted  a  successful  campaign 
for  the  creation  of  the  Mesa  Verde  National 
Park. 

In  Minnesota,  women  prevented  a  "  land 
grab,"  and  afterward  secured  the  enactment 
of  a  State  forestry  law  to  put  a  stop  to  the  depre 
dations  of  lumbermen  and  town-site  operators. 
The  State  Federation  of  New  Hampshire  lent 
powerful  aid  in  the  struggle  for  the  preservation 
of  the  White  Mountain  forests.  So,  too,  in 
New  York,  where  the  State  Federation  has 
[237] 


WOMAN    IN   THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

battled  bravely  against  the  vandalism  that 
threatens  to  convert  the  Adirondacks  and  the 
Catskills  into  barren  wastes.  Elsewhere,  par 
ticularly  in  Pennsylvania,  Maine,  Massachu 
setts,  Wisconsin,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Tennessee,  and  California,  women's  clubs 
have  done  splendid  work  for  forest  preserva 
tion. 

The  movement  to  rescue  Niagara  Falls 
from  the  rapacious  grasp  of  commercialism 
has  been  loyally  supported  by  women  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Both  through  their 
clubs  and  as  individuals  they  are  ably  seconding 
the  efforts  of  the  American  Civic  Association, 
which  has  made  the  saving  of  Niagara  its 
special  care.  Mr.  McFarland,  from  whom  I 
have  already  quoted,  tells  a  good  story  illus 
trative  of  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  shown 
by  the  women  of  the  United  States  in  attacking 
the  Niagara  problem.  As  president  of  the 
American  Civic  Association  he  had  occasion  to 
attend  several  hearings  in  Washington.  At 
[238] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

one  hearing,  held  in  the  War  Office,  President 
Taft,  then  Secretary  of  War,  after  listening 
to  what  Mr.  McFarland  had  to  urge  in  behalf 
of  Niagara,  turned  to  him  with  some  impatience, 
and  said:  "Why,  you  have  made  even  my 
mother  and  aunt  write  me,  begging  me  to  save 
Niagara  Falls!  "  Well  may  Mr.  McFarland 
say,  as  he  does,  that  women  have  been  most  in 
sistent  for  righteousness  in  this  cause. 

Another  problem  of  national  importance  to 
which  the  clubwomen  are  giving  earnest  and 
productive  thought  is  the  securing  of  remedial 
industrial  legislation  for  women  and  children. 
The  industrial  and  child-labor  committees  of 
the  General  and  State  Federations,  and  of 
many  of  their  clubs,  have  gone  into  the  homes 
of  the  workers,  and  into  mills,  factories,  and 
stores,  investigating  the  conditions  under  which 
women  and  children  toil.  Their  aim  is  the 
utter  abolition  of  child  labor,  and  the  pro 
tection  of  working  women  from  employers 
who  would  overwork  them,  or  compel  them  to 
[239] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

labor  under  injurious  conditions.  In  many 
cases  special  agents  are  employed,  men  and 
women  quick  to  detect  violations  of  existing 
laws,  and  skilled  in  gathering  data  to  reinforce 
demands  for  reform.  Of  course  they  have  met, 
and  will  continue  to  meet,  bitter  opposition; 
but  they  have  already  made  appreciable  prog 
ress  in  awakening  the  public  conscience  and 
in  compelling  State  legislatures  to  enact  more 
enlightened  laws. 

One  phase  of  the  "  child  rescue  "  campaign 
in  which  they  have  been  signally  successful 
is  the  creation  of  separate  courts,  reform  schools, 
and  probation  systems  for  dealing  with  youth 
ful  offenders.  The  juvenile  court  plan  origi 
nated  less  than  fifteen  years  ago,  in  Illinois, 
when  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club,  horrified 
at  conditions  found  to  exist  in  Cook  County 
jail,  engaged  a  lawyer  to  draw  up  a  bill  which 
should  strike  at  the  roots  of  the  pernicious 
system  of  herding  young  boys  with  hardened 
criminals.  The  new  method  went  on  trial 
[240] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

in  1899,  and  its  merits  were  such  that  club 
women  everywhere  began  to  insist  on  its  ex 
tension.  It  has  since  been  adopted  by  so  many 
States  that  the  day  does  not  seem  far  distant 
when  the  entire  country  will  have  abandoned 
the  old-time  practice  of  "  sending  a  boy  to 
school  at  the  jailer's "  —  a  practice  which 
virtually  denies  the  juvenile  delinquent  any 
chance  of  developing  into  a  decent  and  useful 
member  of  society. 

Civil  Service  reform  has  received  organized 
support  from  the  women  of  present-day  America 
since  1894,  when  there  was  founded  in  New  York 
the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the  Civil  Service 
Reform  Association.  The  General  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs  has  a  standing  committee 
on  Civil  Service  reform,  as  have  a  majority 
of  the  State  Federations,  and  their  influence 
is  constantly  exercised  toward  a  wider  applica 
tion  of  the  merit  system  of  appointment  to 
public  office.  Reform  in  municipal  politics 
is  another  problem  enlisting  their  sympathetic 
[241] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

cooperation,  and  much  good  work  has  been  ac 
complished  in  this  field  by  such  organizations 
as  the  Woman's  Municipal  League  of  New  York, 
the  Civic  Club  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Civic 
Federation  of  Denver. 

Clubwomen  have  likewise  entered  ardently 
into  the  movement  to  improve  the  sanitation, 
appearance,  and  general  living  conditions  of 
American  municipalities,  and  in  many  in 
stances  reforms  have  been  brought  about  en 
tirely  as  a  result  of  their  initiative.  With 
their  traveling  libraries  and  art  galleries  they 
are  reaching  into  remote  communities,  pro 
moting  education  in  the  most  isolated  regions, 
fostering  a  love  of  the  beautiful,  and  opening 
up  vistas  of  enjoyment  and  recreation  to  many 
whose  lives  have  formerly  been  a  dreary  monot 
ony  of  unending  toil. 

This  brings  me  to  a  fact  which,  taken  by 

itself,  would  amply  justify  the  woman's  club 

movement  in  the  United  States.     In  a  very 

real  sense  it  is  eradicating  the  last  lingering 

[2421 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

remnants  of  the  sectionalism  that  has  more  than 
once  worked  havoc  to  the  nation.  Among  club 
women  there  is  no  East  and  West,  or  North 
and  South.  They  stand  for  a  united  people. 
In  the  biennial  conventions  of  the  General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  they  come  to 
gether  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  plan  for 
the  good  of  the  whole  country.  Even  the  per 
sonnel  of  the  General  Federation's  officers 
bears  evidence  to  the  absence  of  sectional 
lines.  The  same  principle  obtains  in  the  ap 
pointment  of  committees,  and  in  the  practical 
working  out  of  Federation  business  the  national 
idea  is  kept  steadily  to  the  fore,  even  when 
it  is  a  question  of  dealing  with  problems  pri 
marily  local  rather  than  national  in  their 
significance. 

Thus,  there  stands  in  the  heart  of  Georgia's 
mill  region  a  model  country  school  where 
children  are  taught,  in  addition  to  the  three 
R's,  manual  training,  domestic  science,  and 
gardening.  It  was  founded  and  is  maintained 
[243] 


WOMAN    IN   THE   MAKING   OF   AMERICA 

at  the  joint  expense  of  the  Georgia  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs  and  the  Massachusetts 
Federation,  which  has  long  been  aiding  the 
women  of  Georgia  in  combatting  the  evils  of 
child  labor  in  that  State.  And  similarly  in 
Tennessee,  the  Massachusetts  Federation  has 
established  at  Happy  Valley  a  settlement  like 
that  established  by  the  Tennessee  Federation  at 
Walker's  Valley  for  the  purpose  of  teaching 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Tennessee 
mountaineers  cooking,  sewing,  and  other  homely 
arts. 

All  this,  of  course,  tends  to  the  making  of 
a  happier,  better,  and  more  progressive  people. 
Nor  are  the  federated  women's  clubs  by  any 
means  the  only  organizations  of  women  labor 
ing  to  the  same  beneficent  end.  While  it  is 
true  that  no  other  organization  approaches 
the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  in 
the  scope  of  its  activities,  there  are  many  which, 
created  for  special  objects,  are  rendering  serv 
ices  whose  value  to  the  nation  it  would  be 
[244] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

difficult  to  overestimate.  Pre-eminent  among 
these  is  the  National  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  with  which  will  ever  be  as 
sociated  the  name  of  one  of  the  noblest  of 
American  women,  Frances  E.  Willard,  who  was 
its  president  for  nearly  twenty  years.  Its  mem 
bership  is  almost  as  impressive  as  that  of  the 
General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  having 
grown  from  a  few  thousand  at  the  time  of  its 
founding,  in  1874,  to  several  hundred  thousand 
enthusiastic  "  white  ribboners." 

Perhaps  their  most  noteworthy  achievement 
is  seen  in  the  success  attending  their  efforts 
to  have  the  children  of  the  United  States  — 
the  "  citizens  of  to-morrow  "  -  instructed  in 
the  principles  of  scientific  temperance.  They 
have  secured  mandatory  laws  to  this  effect 
in  every  State  in  the  Union,  besides  a  Federal 
law  applying  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  the 
Territories,  and  all  Indian  and  military  schools 
supported  by  the  government;  and  as  a  result 
fully  eighteen  million  children  in  our  public 
[245] 


WOMAN    IN    THE   MAKING    OF    AMERICA 

schools  —  according  to  statistics  for  which  I 
am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Lillian  M.  N.  Stevens,  the 
present  head  of  the  National  Woman's  Chris 
tian  Temperance  Union  —  are  now  receiving 
instruction  as  to  the  nature  and  effect  of  al 
cohol  and  other  narcotics  on  the  human  system. 
It  is  also  estimated  that  at  least  sixteen  million 
children  receive  temperance  teaching  in  the 
Sunday  schools  of  the  country,  and  that  five 
hundred  thousand  of  these  are  pledged  total 
abstainers. 

The  recent  remarkable  growth  of  prohibition 
sentiment,  which  has  swung  so  many  States 
into  the  "  dry  "  column,  must  unquestionably 
be  attributed  in  chief  part  to  this  policy  of 
beginning  from  the  bottom  upward  by  educa 
ting  the  future  voter  as  to  the  harmful  effects 
of  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages.  Besides  which, 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  has 
directly  and  powerfully  contributed  to  all  of 
the  prohibition  victories,  as  has  been  frequently 
and  even  officially  recognized.  A  few  years 
[246] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

ago,  for  instance,  at  the  time  Tennessee  voted 
for  prohibition,  the  Legislature  of  that  State 
adopted  a  resolution  declaring  that  "  to  the 
good  and  consecrated  women  of  the  Tennessee 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  we 
feel  a  debt  of  lasting  gratitude,  and  are  sen 
sitive  to  the  whole  work  they  have  accomplished 
even  in  the  face  of  seemingly  overwhelming 
odds."  And  in  Georgia  chivalric  prohibition 
ists  insisted  that  "  but  for  the  untiring  work 
and  constant  prayers  of  the  women  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  the 
victory  would  not  have  been  won." 

Aside  from  its  anti-liquor  activities,  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is 
earnestly  engaged  in  advancing  many  other 
social  reforms.  It  has  done  much  for  the  great 
principle  of  international  arbitration.  Ad 
vocates  for  better  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
find  in  it  an  unfailing  ally.  It  is  lending  efficient 
aid  to  the  movement  to  secure  stricter  laws  for 
the  protection  of  women  and  children.  The  wel- 
[247] 


WOMAN    IN    THE    MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

fare  of  children,  indeed,  has  always  been  one  of 
its  principal  objects.  It  has  been  instrumental 
in  securing  legislation  prohibiting  the  sale  of  to 
bacco  to  minors.  It  has  encouraged  the  estab 
lishment  of  school  savings  banks.  It  has  advo 
cated  physical  education  in  public  schools,  and 
has  cooperated  with  the  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  and  other  organizations  in 
promoting  the  extension  of  the  kindergarten. 

In  all  of  this,  it  has  been  actuated  by  the 
sound  belief  that  the  future  of  the  country 
depends  on  the  kind  of  training  its  boys  and 
girls  receive,  and  that  by  caring  for  their  in 
terests  it  will  best  live  up  to  its  motto  —  "  For 
God  and  Home  and  Native  Land."  Altogether, 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
must  be  accounted  among  the  nation's  richest 
assets. 

Then,  also  quite  apart  from  the  club  move 
ment,  there  are  organizations  of  women  for 
the  promotion  of  religion,  benevolence,  patriot 
ism,  good  government,  education,  and  in  fact 
[248] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

every  worthy  cause  that  one  might  name.  Be 
sides  which,  as  need  hardly  be  pointed  out,  the 
influence  of  the  women  of  present-day  America 
is  immeasurably  increased  through  their  mem 
bership  in  societies  composed  of  both  men  and 
women.  In  such  societies  the  latter  often  hold 
most  responsible  positions,  and  can  always 
be  depended  upon  to  do  their  share  in  realizing 
the  aims  of  the  organization.  Frequently  they 
do  far  more  than  their  share,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  three  thousand  charitable  organizations 
of  New  York  City,  where  the  greater  part  of 
the  actual  work  of  investigating  and  relieving 
destitution  is  carried  on  by  women. 

Just  how  many  women  all  told  are  thus  en 
listed  under  the  banner  of  social  progress  it 
is  impossible  to  say,  although  the  number  must 
run  far  into  the  millions.  It  is  still  more  out  of 
the  question  to  attempt  to  estimate  the  influ 
ence  which  they  exercise  collectively  and  as  indi 
viduals.  Who  can  measure,  for  instance,  the 
influence  exercised  by  Miss  Helen  Gould  or 
F2491 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Miss  Jane  Addams?  It  is  almost  twenty  years 
since  Miss  Addams  first  took  up  her  residence 
in  Hull  House,  and  began  her  settlement  work 
among  the  toilers  of  Chicago.  Under  her  able 
direction  Hull  House  has  developed  into  a 
center  of  the  highest  civic  and  social  life. 
Thousands  of  people  visit  it  every  week  during 
the  winter  months  to  attend  lectures,  debates, 
and  theatrical  entertainments;  to  gain  instruc 
tion  in  industrial  arts;  to  take  part  in  its 
club  life;  and  to  study  literature,  science, 
history,  civics,  the  languages,  and  the  fine 
arts.  Originally  it  comprised  only  four  rooms 
on  the  second  floor  of  an  old  residence;  to-day 
it  has  spread  out  until  it  might  figuratively 
be  called  a  city  within  a  city.  Its  fame  has  gone 
forth  over  the  world,  and  the  name  of  Miss 
Addams  is  an  inspiration  to  many  who  have 
never  seen  her. 

So  with  all  American  women,  well  known, 
little  known,  or  not  known  at  all,   who  are 
striving  for  the  good  of  their  country.    One  and 
[250] 


THE  WOMEN  OF  TO-DAY 

all  they  radiate  an  influence  whose  cumulative 
effect  must  result,  and  will  result,  in  the  up 
building  of  a  greater  America  than  the  America 
of  to-day. 

There  is  the  likelihood,  too,  that  the  American 
woman  of  future  generations  will  be  in  a  better 
position  to  make  her  influence  felt  than  are 
her  sisters  of  to-day.  Certainly  the  signs  of 
the  times  point  unmistakably  to  her  securing 
at  no  distant  period,  that  full  and  equal  "  right 
to  vote  "  for  which  the  Grimke  sisters,  Lucy 
Stone,  Mrs.  Mott,  Mrs.  Stanton,  Susan  B. 
Anthony,  Mrs.  Livermore,  Mrs.  Howe,  and 
their  fellow-pioneers  in  advocacy  of  "  woman's 
rights,"  so  bravely  fought  in  days  gone  by. 
One  after  another  the  States  of  the  Union  are 
recognizing  the  justice  of  their  claims;  are 
recognizing  that,  in  the  light  of  all  that  woman 
has  done  for  America  in  the  past,  and  all  that 
she  is  doing  to-day,  the  giving  of  the  vote  to 
women  can  only  result  in  still  greater  good  to 
the  Republic. 

[251] 


WOMAN   IN   THE   MAKING    OF   AMERICA 

Let  me  conclude  by  once  more  reminding 
my  readers  of  what  that  wise  Frenchman, 
Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  wrote  many  years  ago: 

"  If  I  were  asked  to  what  the  singular  pros 
perity  and  growing  strength  of  the  American 
people  ought  mainly  to  be  attributed,  I  should 
reply  —  to  the  superiority  of  their  women." 

Were  de  Tocqueville  alive  to-day,  and  were 
he  to  undertake  a  revision  of  his  "  Democracy 
in  America,"  that  is  one  passage  which  he 
assuredly  would  leave  untouched. 


[2521 


INDEX 


Abolition  movement,  early 
history  of,  157-162; 
women  in,  163-187. 

Addams,  Jane,  and  Hull 
House,  250. 

Aiken,  Mrs.  J.,  102. 

Aldrich,  Anne,  101. 

Aldrich,  Milly,  193. 

American  Revolution,  wom 
an's  work  in,  81-114. 

Anthony,  Susan  B.,  and 
equal  suffrage  movement, 
251. 

Austin,  Ann,  persecution  of, 
33-34. 

Barlow,  Arabella,  Civil  War 
nurse,  213. 

Bartlett,  Mrs.  A.,  193. 

Barton,  Clara,  with  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  208-209; 
also  mentioned,  206,  213. 

"  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Re 
public,"  how  written,  214; 
text,  215-216. 

Bellows,  H.  W.,  on  woman's 
work  in  Civil  War,  188, 
189  n.;  account  of  Helen 
Gilson  by,  209-210. 

Berry,  Mrs.  S.,  87-88. 

Bickerdyke,  "Mother," 
Civil  War  nurse,  206-208, 
222. 

Birkbeck,  M.,  on  westward 
movement,  116. 


Birney,  Catherine  H.,  on 
Grimke"  sisters,  165,  169- 
171,  171-173. 

Boone,  D.,  and  Wilderness 
Road,  115,  123;  and  settle 
ment  of  Kentucky,  119- 
123. 

Boone,  Jemima,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  124-125. 

Boone,  Rebecca,  119,  122, 
123,  126,  152. 

Botta,  Eliza,  and  founding 
of  Sorosis,  229. 

Boyer,   Margaret,   199. 

Bradley,  Amy,  Civil  War 
nurse,  206. 

Brayton,   Miss,   189  n. 

B  re  ckin  ridge,  Margaret, 
Civil  War  nurse,  206,  213. 

Brent,  Margaret,  first  Ameri 
can  "suffragette,"  26-28. 

Bryan's  Station,  siege  of, 
140-150. 

Burnaby,  A.,  on  amusements 
of  Philadelphians,  47-48;  on 
New  York  society,  48-49. 

Business  women,  early 
American,  24-28,  54-58. 

Callaway  sisters,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  124-125. 

Campbell,  Miss,  189  n. 

"Captain  Molly,"  90-91. 

Cave  Dwellers  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  9. 


253 


INDEX 


Chapman,  Maria  W.,  and 
abolition  movement,  163. 

Cheney,  Edna  P.,  and  found 
ing  of  New  England  Wom 
an's  Club,  228. 

Child  labor,  239-240. 

Child,  Lydia  M.,  and  aboli 
tion  movement,  174-178. 

Civic  reform,  235,  241-242. 

Civil  Service  reform,  241. 

Civil  War,  woman's  work  in, 
188-223. 

Clubs,  women's,  origin  and 
development  of,  225-232; 
General  Federation  organ 
ized,  232;  present-day 
work  of,  233-248. 

Coffin^  Mrs.  P.,  102-104. 

Colburn,  Bertha  L.,  on  work 
of  New  Hampshire  women 
in  American  Revolution, 
102-104. 

Collins,  Miss,  189  n. 

Conservation  of  national  re 
sources,  237-239. 

Cook,  Mrs.  J.  and  Mrs.  H., 
adventure  with  Indians, 
135-136. 

Cooper,  Mrs.  W.  M.,  199. 

Crandall,  Prudence,  and  ed 
ucation  of  colored  chil 
dren,  181-184. 

Croly,  Jane  C.,  and  found 
ing  of  Sorosis,  228-229; 
and  formation  General 
Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  232;  also  mentioned, 
230. 

Gumming,  Kate,  Civil  War 
nurse,  222-223. 


Darrah,   Lydia,   Revolution 
ary  exploit  of,  109-112. 


Davenport,   Mrs.  J.,  25. 

Davies,  Mrs.  J.,  Kentucky 
pioneer,  151. 

Dennis,  Hannah,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  74-79. 

Dimitry,  J.,  on  devotion  of 
Louisiana  women  in  Civil 
War,  218-219. 

Dix,  Dorothea  L.,  selected  as 
head  of  Union  nurses,  203; 
early  philanthropic  work  of, 
204-205;  also  mentioned, 
209,  213. 

Draper,  Mary,  86,  104-105. 

Dray  ton  Hall,  54,  57. 

Duston,  Hannah,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  13-18;  also  men 
tioned,  42,  74. 

Dyer,  Mary,  convert  to  Qua 
kerism,  35;  banished  from 
Massachusetts,  35;  re 
turns,  36;  sentenced  to 
death,  36;  appeals  to  Gen 
eral  Court,  36-39;  re 
prieved,  40;  again  sen 
tenced,  41;  executed,  42; 
also  mentioned,  179. 

Education,  180-184,  231,  233, 

242,  243,  246,  248. 
Equal    suffrage    movement, 

26,  28,  227,  251. 
Ewing,  Sarah,  199. 

Ferguson,  Isabella,  113. 
Ferree,  Mary,  Pennsylvania 

pioneer,  25. 
Field,  Kate,  and  founding  of 

Sorosis,  229. 
Fisher,  Mary,  persecution  of, 

33-34. 
Foster,  Abby,  and  abolition 

movement,   178,   179-180. 


[254 


INDEX 


Garrison,  W.  L.,  and  aboli 
tion  movement,  158,  161, 
162,  163,  179,  182. 

Gilson,  Helen,  Civil  War 
nurse,  206,  209-212. 

Glidden,   Mrs.   C.,   102. 

Gould,  Helen,  249. 

Greene,  Catharine,  with  Rev 
olutionary  army,  97. 

Grier,  Mrs.,  189  n. 

Grimk6  sisters,  and  aboli 
tion  movement,  163-173; 
and  equal  suffrage  move 
ment,  251. 

Grover,   Priscilla,    199. 

Haddon,  Elizabeth,  New 
Jersey  pioneer,  25. 

Hard,  Elizabeth,  experiences 
in  early  Pennsylvania,  9- 
10. 

Hawkins,  Mrs.  W.,  102. 

Hedge,  Mrs.,  189  n. 

Holley,  Sallie,  and  aboli 
tion  movement,  179,  180. 

Houston,  Mrs.,  and  settle 
ment  of  Tennessee,  153- 
155. 

Howe,  Julia  W.,  and  writing 
of  "  The  Battle  Hymn  of 
the  Republic,"  213-216; 
and  founding  o  f  N  e  w 
England  Woman's  Club, 
227-228;  also  mentioned, 
230,  251. 

Hull  House,  250. 

Hutchinson,  Anne,  first 
American  "  clubwoman," 
28;  troubles  with  Massa 
chusetts  authorities,  29- 
32;  banished,  33;  death, 
33;  also  mentioned,  34, 
42,  226. 


Indian  captivities  13-23. 
74-79,  124-125. 

Johnson,  Jemima  S.,  Bryan's 
Station  heroine,  145-148. 

Juvenile  courts,  234,  240- 
241. 

Kentucky,  women's  experi 
ences  in  early,  123-126, 
134-153. 

King  Philip,  17,  22,  23. 

Knox,  Lucy,  with  Revolu 
tionary  army,  97. 

Law,  Sallie  C.,  Civil  War 
nurse,  222. 

Leonardson,  S.,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  14-16. 

Lindsey,  B.  B.,  on  woman's 
club  movement,  234-235. 

Livermore,  Mary  A.,  on 
work  of  Western  women  in 
Civil  War,  195-196;  on 
work  of  "  Mother  "  Bick- 
erdyke,  207-208;  and 
founding  of  New  England 
Womanys  Club,  228;  also 
mentioned,  189  n.,  230. 
251. 

Lovejoy,  E.  P.,  murder  of, 
162. 

Lowry,  Ellen,  199. 

Loyalist  women  in  Revolu 
tion,  113-114. 

Lundy,  B.,  and  abolition 
movement,  158,  179. 

Matteson,  Dorcas,  101. 

May,  Miss,  189  n. 

McFarland,  J.  H.,  on  wom 
an's  share  in  work  of 
American  Civic  Associa 
tion,  235,  238-239. 


[255] 


INDEX 


McPeek,  Allie,  heroine  of 
battle  of  Jonesboro,  220- 
221. 

Merrill,  Mrs.  J.,  adventure 
with  Indians,  136-137. 

Moore,  Mrs.,  189  n. 

Morris,  Deborah,  on  Elizabeth 
Hard's  experiences,  9-10. 

Mott,  Lucretia,  and  aboli 
tion  movement,  178-179: 
and  equal  suffrage  move 
ment,  251. 

National  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  aims 
and  work  of,  244-248. 

Neff,  Mary,  Indian  cap 
tivity  of,  14-16. 

New  England  Woman's 
Club,  227-228,  229. 

Newsom,  Mrs.,  Civil  War 
nurse,  222. 

Pennsylvania  Hall,  burning 
of,  160,  171. 

Philadelphia  Dancing  As 
sembly,  founding  of,  46. 

Philadelphia  "  refreshment 
saloons,"  199-202. 

Pilgrim  mothers,  landing  in 
America  of,  8-9. 

Pinckney,  Eliza  L.,  and  early 
Southern  plantation  life, 
54-58. 

Plummer,  Eliza,   199. 

Poole,  Elizabeth,  and  found 
ing  of  Taunton,  Massachu 
setts,  24-25. 

Pryor,  Mrs.  R.  A.,  on  hero 
ism  of  Southern  women  in 
Civil  War,  219. 

Pure  Food  Law,  236. 


Putnam,  Carolina,  and  edu 
cation  of  colored  children, 
180. 

Quakers,  persecution  of,  33- 
42;  also  mentioned,  9,  109, 
165,  179. 

Reed,  Abigail,  102. 

Reed,  Esther,  and  relief 
work  during  Revolution, 
106-108. 

Reid,  Mrs.  G.,  102. 

Robinson,  Hannah,  love 
story  of,  59-64. 

Ross,  Anna  M.,  199. 

Rouse,  Mrs.,  189  n. 

Rowlandson,  Mary,  Indian 
captivity  of,  16-23;  re 
moval  to  Connecticut,  23 
n.;  also  mentioned,  42. 

Sampson,  Deborah,  career  in 
American  army,  91-96. 

Sandys,  Sir  E.,  and  settle 
ment  of  Virginia,  5-6. 

Schuyler,  Miss,  189  n. 

Social  life  in  the  colonies,  46- 
54. 

Sorosis,  227,  228-229. 

Stanton,  Mrs.,  and  equal 
suffrage  movement,  251. 

Steel,  Katharine,  86. 

Stevenson,  Miss,  189  n. 

Stone,  Lucy,  and  founding 
of  New  England  Woman's 
Club,  228;  and  equal  suf 
frage  movement,  251. 

Stowe,  Harriet  B.,  and 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 
185-186;  also  mentioned, 
174. 


[256] 


INDEX 


Strong,  J.,  on  the  General 
Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  234. 

Thomas,   Jane,    112-113. 

Tocqueville,  A.  de,  on  wom 
an's  work  in  the  United 
States,  1-2,  252. 

United  States  Sanitary  Com 
mission,  organization  and 
work  of,  190-192;  how 
money  raised  for,  197-198. 

Vansdale,  Elizabeth,  199 
Virginia  maids,  6-8. 

Wade,  Mary,  199. 
Washington,    Martha,    with 

Revolutionary   army,    97- 

101, 


Westward  movement,  women 
in,  115-155. 

Wilbour,  Charlotte,  and 
founding  of  Sorosis,  229. 

Willard,  Frances  E.,  245. 

Winslow,  Helen  M.,  on  in 
fluence  of  Sorosis,  229. 

Witherspoon,  R.,  account  of 
pioneering  conditions  in 
South  Carolina,  66-71. 

"  Woman's  Rights,"  28,  230. 

Wright,  Mrs.  D.,  89. 


Zane,  Elizabeth,  heroism  in 
siege  of  Wheeling,  127- 
133. 

Zellers,  Christina,  Pennsyl 
vania  pioneer,  71;  adven 
ture  with  Indians,  72. 


[257] 


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